Welcome back. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and new year. RFSS have only been back at school a couple of weeks, and already so much has happened. We have had some netball matches, some sports trips and even a trip to London. We here at newsletter are very excited to tell you all about what has been going on in school. Over the holidays, we have had to say goodbye to one teacher and welcome two new teachers. We have also opened up the Rugby Free Secondary School doors to some, new students. We would like to wish all of the students and teachers, a big good luck. All of us at RFSS can t wait for you to join our adventure, to get RFSS to be the best school in rugby!! On Tuesday the 16 th, 40 students went on an overnight trip to visit some religious places in Central London. We visited the Central London Mosque first, in which we had a workshop with a Muslim man and he told us about his beliefs. Afterwards we split into two groups. One group went to St Paul s Cathedral, and the other went to the Royal Courts of Justice (and vice versa). In St Paul s Cathedral, we had complete freedom to look around and in the Royal Courts of Justice, we had a workshop about a court case, in which we re-enacted the debate. After that, we went to Covent Garden and watched a street performer called Richard Filby. It was very fun! We then went to Bella Italia for our dinner. Afterwards, we left for the YHA youth hostel and stayed there overnight. The next morning we had breakfast at the hostel, we then left to go to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple where we were showed around, and we even joined in with one of their prayers! We then went to the Central Gurdwara, we were told about their beliefs, and we then had lunch there. It was very tasty! We then left for the final destination, which was the Synagogue where we learnt about the Jewish culture. After that, we left London and headed back to Rugby. I asked some students from 7RH which part of the trip was their favourite. William said, I liked being a judge at the Royal Courts of Justice Ethan said, I really liked the restaurant and the food Karolina said My favourite part was the street performance! and Anya said, The synagogue was really good! Thank you to Mr Morgan for organising the amazing trip! By Charlotte Bowers 8WW
Biology In Biology this term, we have been learning about the five kingdoms on the planet. These five kingdoms are called, Animalia kingdom, Plantae kingdom, Protista kingdom, Fungi kingdom and the Moneta kingdom. Human come under the Animalia kingdom. Animalia has all thing that organs in the body. Plantae is all thing that use photosynthesis. Fungi are organisms that live on dying things like old trees. Protista is a one-cell orgasm that has a nucleus. Moneta are like Protista but they do not have a nucleus. Physics In Physics we have been learning how sweating cools us down and we did an experiment to test it. We put newspaper round a test tube and put hot water in the test tube. We did this again but instead we dabbed it with cold water. We timed them both and the one when we dabbed the cold water onto the test tube you could see from the results the temperature goes down a lot. We have also did Radiation, which is good and bad. Nuclear radiation is the most dangerous to humans and animals. Were as Alpha radiation is like heat radiation, which is completely fine to living things. Delta can give a human bad rashes and burns. Chemistry In Chemistry, we have been learning about igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks and sedimentary rocks. We have learnt how all of them rocks are formed by the rock cycle and by weathering. We have followed the process of the rock cycle by starbursts and melting them. After the starburst cooled down, we could see how it has become an igneous rock and how igneous rocks are formed in the rock cycle. In Chemistry, we have also been learning about weathering and the types like chemical weathering, physical weathering and biological weathering. Chemical weathering is when it includes chemicals. Rainwater is naturally slightly acidic because carbon dioxide from the air dissolves in it. Minerals in rocks may react with the rainwater, causing the rock to be weathered. This is one example of chemical weathering. Physical weathering is caused by physical changes such as changes in temperature, freezing and thawing, and the effects of wind, rain and waves. This is what physical weathering is. Biological weathering is when creatures mainly rats and moles go into cracks in the rock making them expand or the rock splits the rock in half or into pieces. Trees root go the cracks in the rock trying to find water, they also turn up tarmac in rocks and pavements.
After half term we will be holding audition for the summer musical. This year we will be doing Oliver! Pick up your audition pack from Mrs Hudson and be prepared to sing and act your heart out!` In this term year eight, have been learning about India. We have been learning about the GDP (gross domestic product) in India. We have also found out that India is the second most populated country in the world after China, with a population currently of 1.324 billion. It has been reported that by 2025 it will be the number one most populated country in the world. When we were comparing the United States to the republic of India, it was clear that India is too over populated for its size. We have learnt about the culture and tourist attractions, like the Taj Mahal, the lake palace, the red fort and the golden temple. We are now going to learn about the rest of Asia, like Russia and china. I think it is important to learn about other cultures and other countries because we get to understand how different parts of the world are like and we learn to have tolerance and understanding. Why did you join choir? Our school choir is taking part in an event called Voice in A Million (VIAM). This is an annual event where over 6000 children take part. Parents are welcome to come and watch and all proceeds go to charity. The choir will travel down to the Wembley Arena where they will join 1000 other schools and sing. Also last year we had a vocal coach come in to teach our choir some of the songs and performing strategies. In schools, they learn the words and some of the dance moves. Some of the 2018 VIAM songs are Can t Stop the Feeling, Human; I want a Mum, Help a child Belong, One Last Time and How Far I ll Go. In RFSS, choir practice the words on Wednesday lunchtime with Mrs Hudson. We interviewed some members of the choir so we can find out what they of the event. Bella Robson 7TM Because I like to perform with others and my parents and Mrs Hudson enthusiastically encouraged me to join and get involved in music. They believe that she is musically talented and deserves a chance to show off her talent. What made you do voice in a million? I like to think that this is a chance to show off my musical talent and for it to make a difference to someone s life at the same time. I was also encouraged by my friends and family so I decided to do it. Do you enjoy music as well as choir? Yes, because it is fun and I can express myself in a way that is unique and it links in a lot with choir. It also helps me understand what we do in choir and how it relate and helps with music. By Sophie, Abi and Olivia
What is your favorite subject? Olivia Barret 8WW Do you like this school? Yes I do because it s not too big and everyone is very welcoming. What do you like to in your spare time? In my spare time I tend to look after my little baby sister and watch TV. What is your favorite food? I really like eating Chinese food. So my favorite food would have to be fried noodles. My favorite subject would definitely have to be Math. In addition, Mr Wong is very funny. What do you want to do when you are older? I would really like to be a vet so I can look after animals. What is your favorite film? My favorite film is Chihuahua What is you least favorite food Mushrooms because they re mushy and have a weird texture and they taste horrible. Miss Ward What is your job here at RFSS? I am the head of humanities, so the head of RE, Geography and History. What University did you go to? I went to Manchester Metropolitan. What subjects do you teach? I mainly teach History but I also teach a little bit of Re to some classes. How did you find out about RFSS? I saw this job advertised on a teachers website where you can find new jobs. What makes RFSS different to other schools that you have taught at? It is an interesting building journey and I am very keen to get involved, it is all very exciting. What is your favourite colour? My favourite colour would have to be Yellow. What is your favourite food? My favourite food, I have a few but I think it would really have to be a curry.
On Tuesday 9 th January, some students from our year 7 and 8 netball teams attended Loughborough University as part of the team up project. Team up is about bringing schools from all over the country together to support our England Roses at open training matches. This was put in place to show the England team the type of atmosphere at a match. We watched the teams go against each other, blues vs reds, scoring goal after goal at both ends of the pitch. The match was technical and very enjoyable. Before we knew it the match was in its last 30 seconds. All the school were counting down, sitting on the edge of their seats. In the last 10 seconds, the red team scored.the scores were close but our England red team came out on top with a score of 54-72. After the match, we all did a big cheer for the fantastic performance we had just watched then we got to go onto the pitch that the team had just played on, meet the player, get autographs and pictures. Overall, we had an amazing day! By Eva Pickering Over this term, in PE we have been learning about different activities to keep your body healthy and fit. We first started this topic by learning about boxing and what parts of the body it keeps healthy. We learnt that it helps build strength in your muscles and retains a healthy heart. We did this exercise for 15 minutes until we started playing games against each other. However, we also looked at dodge ball and the skills that can help, you in other sports. To start the lesson of we had cards that were agility s and the explanation to help us get a better understanding of the skills used in this sport. We were then split of into teams and played against each other. By playing sports like dodgeball we can learn about what agility s you would need in sport. By doing things like this it can help us get all ready and prepped for GCSE. By Izzy Macready
For the past few weeks the school have been doing a Friday Football where children make football teams and goes up against others. There are twelve teams and each team must have four players including goalkeeper. The rules are the games play for 5 minutes straight and when the ball goes out it is a kick in, the referee s decision is final and roll on roll off subs. The decisions of what happens if a team doesn t show up goes to Mr Clancy, but usually it is a 3-0 loss. You are not allowed to loan players unless Mr Clancy says that you can. Team captains are responsible for telling their players when they are playing there playing a game. All players must were a bib when they enter the field of play. You cannot play if you do not have a bib. On Wednesday the 10 th of January 2018, 15 girls from the netball team (year7&8) were chosen to go meet the wasps netball team at an event. Many schools attended the event and it was very fun. There were a couple of tasks, which were each 10 minutes with one member of the team. We got to meet and do little tasks with the players of the wasps team which was very fun. We also got a tour of where the players get dressed and have showers etc. we got to see the ice bath the players bath in after the match. Whilst we were there were many netball skills and tasks for us to do. We also got to see the trophy that wasps won last season, and take a few photos with the trophy. The 1st of February 2018 was a fabulous day for our RFSS netball as we won our game against Ashlawn 10 16. We were nervous at first, but we gave it our all by scoring the first goal. It was a tight game at first it was 4 3 at the end of the first quarter but as the game proceeded so did the score. At half time the score was 9 11 and everyone was tired but progressed through the match. The ball was getting into the hoop on either end finally it was time for the last quarter everyone was excited and knew we had to give it our all. When the final whistle blew we were so happy!! We won the game!! We said our cheers and got congratulated by Miss Probert.