From the Headmaster
| Making it through the rain! As we approach the end of term, the spirit of Christmas has permeated our socially distanced bubbles and there is a real sense of festive fun around the School. The Infants are recording their nativity play this morning and we had a visitation from our Nursery children yesterday afternoon. They performed some carols and helped us decorate the Christmas Tree with the beautiful decorations that they had made earlier in the week. They then disappeared full of chocolate, laughter and joy. Some of our international boarders are beginning to make the long journey home after an eventful but incredibly successful term. Meanwhile, our Year 11 and Year 13 students are in the midst of their mock examinations; although there is still a lack of clarity regarding the precise nature of their GCSE and A Level examinations next Summer. However, we do now know the following: GCSE and A level examinations will be ‘graded generously’ in order to compensate for disruption to schooling. Students will be informed of at least some of the topics that will appear on the examination papers in advance Students who miss examination papers due to self-isolation will be given a ‘second chance’ due to the provision of supplementary papers. Centre assessed grades (or CAGs as they became known during the long summer of discontent!) will only be used where there are legitimate impediments to pupils sitting examinations. Nothing further has been said regarding the desire to compensate for interschool or interregional disparities in terms of the amount of learning time available to different pupils. Devising a model which potentially discriminates against pupils at schools which maintained a full programme of online lessons would seem rather iniquitous. Of course, there are no easy answers and one should also spare a thought for our current Lower Sixth Formers who will sit examinations in 2022, for it is likely that there will be a push to address grade inflation. However, in many ways, our Lower Sixth Formers have suffered most because they did not have the opportunity to sit public examinations this summer. The experience of sitting GCSEs is more than a rite of passage, it is the launchpad for A level or IB studies. It will take a number of years for the true educational impact of COVID-19 to become apparent. I am exceptionally grateful to all of our wonderful members of staff. Their hard work and indefatigable energy has helped to keep us and our children healthy and learning. Back in the summer, none of us quite knew what this term would look like. Some felt that the measures that we had put in place were too stringent whilst others thought that they were too lax. I have real sympathy with both positions and every position in between. All I do know is that our children have been resilient and found plenty of ways to have fun. I think us adults found the second lockdown pretty dispiriting but we should look back on this year and feel utterly inspired by our children and the phenomenal progress that we have made as a school. As Barry Manilow would say, we have ‘made it through the rain’ and ‘kept our world protected’. Christmas is a time for joy and hope but this year I am acutely conscious that many of our families have struggled with some desperately difficult situations. To those of you who have felt very real pain during this year and for those of you for whom Christmas is going to be a tough time, we are here for you. Above all else, Rossall is a community and if this year has taught us anything then it is the importance of looking after each other through the good times and the not so good times. Floreat Rossallia! Mr Jeremy Quartermain Headmaster of Rossall School |
Message from the Junior Headmaster
| Dear Parents, I am delighted to share some fantastic news with you. Our Nursery has received the ‘perfect 10’ grading on the website, www.daynurseries.com, making us the number 1 nursery of choice across not only Fleetwood, but also the Wyre and the Fylde! The best thing about receiving a score of 10, is that it was reviewed by our very own parents, rather than an external body. A great deal of hard work has gone into creating an environment and experience that is truly breathtaking and I am always delighted to visit our youngest pupils, here at Rossall.  We are all thrilled by our most recent rating and I should like to put on record my sincere thanks to Mrs Stott, Miss Collins, and the rest of our wonderful Nursery team. After renovating and moving into the new Nursery rooms, launching our Baby Room, and creating a themed approach that links to our Junior School curriculum, we are now looking forward to the launch of our incredible Preschool Room in the new year. What an incredible time it is to be at our Junior School. The run-up to Christmas is always magical and the children have been thoroughly enjoying all the festivities alongside their exciting lessons. From making gingerbread men and women to switching on the Christmas tree lights with carols to filming the nativities, the children have been getting into the swing of all things Christmas. I even drove a minibus filled with a flock of ‘Reception sheep’ back from the Chapel in the rain! There is no ‘Baa Humbug’ about that!  Next week we have the pantomime, Christmas lunch, Christmas jumper day, final awards assembly and the elf run; another quiet week in Junior School! Have a lovely weekend. Mr Turner Headmaster of Rossall Junior School |
| ASSEMBLY – MONDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2020 This week’s assembly features the Rossall Golf Academy, a musical performance from Year 12 student, Mary Melsheimer (Rose), and the thought of the day by Mr Robinson. We hope you enjoy. |
| LOCALS HELPING LOCALS On Wednesday of this week, the Rossall community delivered food parcels to the Locals helping Locals appeal, based at the Sandcastle Waterpark in Blackpool. This initiative, set up by Radio Lancashire’s Hayley Kay, aims to provide support for the young people of the Fylde Coast at Christmas time. There are more than 12,000 young people in the region who live below the poverty line and the Rossall community has been delighted to help support these young people with generous donations of food parcels in these most challenging of times. I sincerely thank all of those people who kindly donated a parcel; their simple acts of kindness will help to change the lives of young people for the better. Mr Mark Bradley |
| FISH AND CHIP SUPPER Members of the staff Common Room joined together this week to help those in Fleetwood who are in need at this time of year. Working in partnership with John’s Friary on Brook Street, colleagues collected well over £100 to provide a “fish and chip supper” to those in town who are in real need of a comforting hot meal and some much needed cheer at Christmas. Mr Clarke, in a selfless act, sampled the chips and gave them his seal of approval. The meals will be prepared and freshly delivered to those in need next week. A big thank you goes to all of those colleagues who generously donated. |
| LAMDA RECITAL We held our second LAMDA Recital on Wednesday 2nd December. Please click on the above image to watch it. |
| MR SHARPE’S MATHS CHALLENGE LAST WEEK’S ANSWER Did you manage to solve Mr Sharpe’s puzzle? Awkward Audrey’s Illogically Priced Suit Shop Awkward Audrey’s shop doesn’t make buying a suit easy. For example, to buy a three-piece suit which consists of a jacket, a pair of trousers and a waistcoat, Audrey displays the following information. Two jackets and three pairs of trousers cost £380. A pair of trousers cost the same as two waistcoats. How much does a three-piece suit cost? Here is the answer to last week’s puzzle: In solving this challenge you might find it useful to use a little algebra so we will turn the two statements that Audrey displays in her shop into equations: Two jackets and three pairs of trousers cost £380 becomes: 2j +3t = 380 and A pair of trousers cost the same as two waistcoats become: t = 2w Since 3t = 2t + t, the first equation can be written as : 2j + 2t + t = 380. Now remember: t = 2w So we can further write the first equation as: 2j + 2t + 2w = 380. This now gives us 2 full three-piece suits, costing £380 and so it is now easy to work out that a three-piece suit must cost half of this, £190. THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE Lazy Dave Day-Dreams of 2019 Dave remembers the good old days of 2019 and sat down and had a good think the other day. He was wondering: What is the last digit of the smallest positive integer whose digits add up to 2019? (Let’s be honest! Who hasn’t wondered that at some point? Or is it just Dave and me?) |
| WHAT’S ON THIS WEEKEND See what’s on this weekend at Rossall School. |
