How different the school drop-off/pick-up looked over 100 years ago!
From the Headmaster
| COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS! We are absolutely delighted to be welcoming back all year groups on Monday, 8th March. The opportunity to come back together as a School community fills us with gratitude and a palpable sense of excitement. Few could have anticipated that lockdown would last so long or that the last year would have proved so incredibly challenging for children around the world. Obviously, it is very important that we take all reasonable measures to safeguard and protect the physical health of all within our communities but this should not continue to be at the educational and emotional cost of our children. It was reassuring that Keir Starmer voiced his support for the full return of schools despite opposition from the usual quarters. Vaccinations provide a much-needed exit strategy and whilst some restrictions will remain in place for months to come, it is clear that we are now on the home stretch and that our children can look forward to a near-normal summer term. Co-curricular activities will recommence from 8th March and this will include sports, music, drama, outward bound activities and all clubs and societies. The wearing of facemasks in classrooms will persist for a while longer yet but this is a very small price to pay for the level of protection that is provided to us as a consequence. The reason why we have fared so well thus far is because we have been proactive in terms of minimising risk. I am delighted that we have launched the International Piano Academy this week and you will be aware that we intend to become an All-Steinway School ahead of September 2021. We have some truly outstanding pianists here within School and we feel that we are now in a position to provide a superb programme for those wishing to study music at university or conservatoire level. Adam Dobson, our Director of Music is heading up this programme and teaching staff will include Hazel Nguyen, who has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and the celebrated international concert pianist, Martin Roscoe. We are establishing tangible links with the Junior Royal Northern College of Music and Pro Corda, the National Chamber Music School. Work has continued on the Nursery and Infants building and, internally, the building has been almost entirely refurbished. We look forward to having the opportunity to show off the building to all Rossallians in due course but we are incredibly proud of the modern, bright and spacious interior spaces that we have now created. Our maintenance team works incredibly hard and the quality of their craftsmanship and ingenious creativity permeates all aspects of this project. Our Head of Design and Technology, Lee Hodgetts, had the vision to see what this rather dour and rather frustrating building had the potential to become. The Nursery and new Pre-Prep will be officially opened next term when the external uplift has been completed. More exciting developments on this front will be announced before the end of this term. The girls elite football programme is developing apace and by September we will have at least three England U16 players here with us. Four of our boys played for Fleetwood FC U18s last week against Wigan and Preston North End. They won both matches and it is great that they have the opportunity to play competitive fixtures at this time. Our golfers are eagerly awaiting the reopening of courses around the country. There is so much to celebrate but I am acutely conscious that the impact of COVID will remain with all of us for a long while. It is something that we will gently come to terms with during the months and years ahead. We are an international family and it is not just our boarders who have been separated from family members. Many of our day pupils will not have seen cousins and grandparents who live overseas. My daughters have sixteen first cousins on Fiona’s side and they have not seen any of them or their Irish grandparents since December 2019. That length of time is irrecoverable – it is a very real loss. Quinn, the youngest, was born just after lockdown was imposed and he is now walking. Fiona met him briefly through a window back in June but the girls and I have yet to meet him. I know that this is pretty standard and that whilst we are incredibly grateful to be able to return to School, there are aspects of all of our lives outside school that will remain on hold for a while longer yet. We live in a globally connected world and measures that interfere with our freedom of movement have a human cost which is almost incalculable. 9.5 million people in the UK were born abroad and each and the vast majority of them now find themselves isolated from family members. For now though, I think we need to focus upon all that is positive and give thanks for the opportunity to stop living lives which seem to have been held in limbo for so long. Wishing all a very happy weekend! Kindest regards, Mr Jeremy Quartermain Headmaster of Rossall School |
Message from the Junior Headmaster
| Dear Parents, The news delivered on Monday that schools could return to face-to-face teaching from 8th March, was greeted with jubilation by the pupils in assembly on Tuesday morning. There is no doubt that the children have thoroughly missed their friends and School and simply being together! Indeed, I am positive that many of the parents share in their children’s joy! Whilst our time teaching and learning remotely have been successful, there is absolutely no substitution for the children being in school and we will welcome them back with a renewed appreciation of the opportunity to be together once more. Our Rossall Bake Off that took place over the half-term break was a resounding success. I am sure that you will agree that the entries were truly incredible and I had no idea that Mary Berry had so many grandchildren attending Rossall! Congratulations to our Junior School winners: Stanley, Emily and i first place, Ruby.  Finally, the sun is shining, the children are returning in just over a week, and there is much to look forward to including on Thursday, when we celebrate World Book Day activities online (no dressing up this year!). Have a lovely weekend. Mr Turner Headmaster of Rossall Junior School |
| JUNIOR & NURSERY NEWS Please click here for this week’s Junior and Nursery Newsletter. |
| ROSSALL’S INTERNATIONAL PIANO ACADEMY We are delighted to announce the launch of Rossall’s International Piano Academy – the first of its kind in the UK! www.rossall.org.uk/school-life/international-piano-academy “The Rossall International Piano Academy is committed to providing a world-class musical education, enabling our pianists to develop the skills, confidence and tenacity required to achieve their fullest musical potential.” Mr Jeremy Quartermain, Headmaster. Our commitment to providing an outstanding musical education for future generations of pianists has been further enabled by Rossall becoming an All-Steinway School from early Summer, 2021. |
| RETURN TO SCHOOL AND LATERAL FLOW TESTING Further to the government’s announcement regarding the full reopening of schools from Monday 8th March and lateral flow testing, we can confirm that we are planning to test all Day students on Friday 5th March. This will enable all students to be back in School, in person, first thing on Monday 8th March. We will be in contact with full details of the testing schedule, and other logistical matters concerning the return to School, early next week. |
| ASSEMBLY – MONDAY 22ND FEBRUARY A warm welcome back to each and every one of you for the second half of the Lent Term. Enjoy this week’s assembly which includes messages from Mr Quartermain and Ms Porovic, along with a piano performance from Year 12 student, Samuel Ayoma (MF House). |
| THE GREAT JUNIOR BAKE OFF No soggy bottoms here! Every single entry we had for The Great Junior Bake Off was simply outstanding. We are so proud of each and every single one of our bakers who submitted a cake for consideration. In third place was Stanley in Year 1 for his fantastic farm cake, complete with rabbits and chickens. In second place was Emily in Year 4 for her fairy themed cake – we particularly loved the detail of the chocolate buttons acting as a garden path. And in first place was Ruby in Year 6 with her very accurate Minion cake – Gru would be proud! Well done to all. |
| WALKING A MARATHON Year 9 students, Hallie Garrick and Ruby Rickwood recently walked two marathons on two separate occasions. For both marathons, they started outside Rossall School and completed the 26.5 miles around the Fylde Coast. Hallie is a competitive swimmer and prior to lockdown would swim 15 hours per week, often with 5am morning starts. Apart from doing the online swimming land training by her swimming coach on a Tuesday and Thursday Hallie was worried about her lack of exercise and her fitness. Ruby suggested to Hallie that she push herself as a reminder of what she can achieve and they talked one another into walking a marathon which they completed on the 7th February together and again on 20th February. The girls’ second walk inspired two more students, Jet Riley-Oakes and Harriet Bowden to also walk a marathon themselves. The girls hope to inspire more students to keep active during lockdown. This is a fantastic achievement and we are very proud of them. Well done, girls! |
| SENIOR SCHOOL & SIXTH FORM VIRTUAL OPEN DAY Join us for our next Virtual Open Day for Senior School (11-16) and Sixth Form (16-18) on Saturday 6th March at 11am (BST), and hear all about what life is like at Rossall from our current students and parents. Scholarships available. Book now: https://www.rossall.org.uk/news/open-days/ |
| PHOTOGRAPHY Year 13 Photography student, Sam Wong has been asked to take pictures for a fashion show in Hong Kong. He is doing really well, making lots of connections and getting many opportunities to use his skills. Here are just a few of his photos. Well done, Sam! |
| MR SHARPE’S MATHS CHALLENGE LAST TERM’S PUZZLEPaul’s Peculiar Probability Problem Paul has a strange bag of cubes that he bought on holiday many years ago in Hull. It turns out that he can’t look in it but he can take a cube out at random, look at it and return it. These sorts of bags are common in the world of maths. The bag has only red and green cubes in it. If he takes a cube out at random from the bag, he knows that the probability that it is green is 3 — 7 One day he accidentally drops 2 more red cubes and 3 more green cubes into it. He now, somehow, knows that the probability of getting a green cube is 6 — 13 Paul now knows enough to say how many green and red cubes are in the bag. So, how many? Once more the first email containing the correct answer will become the subject of the next puzzle. Two-thirds of the winners so far have been called Paul. There may be a future question in that somewhere…. ANSWER Here is the solution to the last puzzle So lets let r and g stand for the number of red and green cubes originally in Paul’s mysterious bag. This gives us two equations, one before the extra cubes are added and one after. They are: 9/r + g = 3/7 and g + 3/r+ g + 5 = 6/3 With a little bit of cross multiplication these, in turn, become: 3r = 4g and 6r – 7g = 9 Doubling the first equation and substituting it into the second gives g = 9 which leads to r= 12 Now bearing in mind that the questions wanted to know how many green and red cubes are now in the bag means that the answers are 12 green and 14 red cubes. Congratulations to Dr Paul Cahalin for supplying the one (and only) correct answer. He has kept the domination of the Paul’s going and also ensured that Elias’s dream was indeed only that as the number of responses has now failed to follow either of the 2 types of sequence which Elias dreamt about. The dream is over. But it does mean that Dr Paul will be the subject of the next puzzle. Not to take away from Dr Paul, but come on non-Paul’s don’t let the Paul’s get all of the maths glory! THIS WEEK’S PUZZLE: Dr Paul’s new and very complicated Garden To celebrate his dominance in the weekly maths puzzle, Dr Paul decides to redesign his garden. He gets a little carried away with the complexity of the design and opts for the following.  The triangles will be used to house his extensive collection of pets (including his Wallabies and Koalas). The segments will be used to grow Eucalyptus for the Koalas and the food for the other animals (as well as storing the Pot noodles and sandwiches for the Wallabies, or whatever they eat…). Anyway, the question is: What is the size of the angle marked with an x? Once more the first correct response will be honoured in the next puzzle. Come on Rossallians, it’s mainly only men called Paul who can boast to have this honour so far (and Elias). Let’s try and put an end to their Paul-mination (very weak attempt at merging Paul and domination). Let see who can stake their claim amongst these mathematical gods!! – Mr Sharpe |
