JOHN RUSKIN SCHOOL

RECOGNISED AS ONE OF

THE TOP SCHOOLS IN THE

COUNTRY!

Inside this issue:

Wider curriculum 2

Technology 3

English 4

Catering and geography 5

ELBS and ICT 6

Mathematics 7

Tag rugby 8

John Ruskin School

JRS EXPRESS

EASTER 2016

Key Dates for the

Summer Term:

25th April: Y10 Work

experience begins

2nd May: Bank Holi-

day Monday

17th May: GCSE ex-

ams begin

27th May: Break up

for half term

21st June: Proposed

Y6 induction day

28th June Proposed

Y6 induction day

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

The theme for the day was Play your Part: Creat-ing a Better Internet for All. With digital communi-cations developing into such a large part of young people's lives, the lesson gave everyone an oppor-tunity to learn about what some of the main issues were with online commu-nication.

In February, Year 7 and 8 Computing students were given the benefit of addi-tional expertise in the run up to Safer Internet Day 2016. Police Community Support Officer Emma Forrester joined the groups to explain what it is like to deal with some of the real world issues that result from online commu-nications.

Using a mix of video, dis-cussion and collaborative activities, students ana-lysed some of the things that people say to each other using digital commu-nications and explored how unkind comments can develop into com-ments that are not only

Lambing Live

alls and wellies were quickly put on and armed with a camera he returned to Boon Crag. He wasn’t disappointed, getting pho-tographs and a video. Well done, Charlie!

Hopefully over the next month all the pupils will experience a sheep lamb-ing and if we are as lucky as last year we can assist with some births.

Page 2 JRS EXPRESS

I know that parents will be delighted to hear that the academic achievement of students at John Ruskin School has been recognised in a letter from Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Schools. The letter states that John Ruskin School is one of the top schools in the country for value added, Mr Gibb comments that ‘This reflects the fantastic progress made by your pupils since the end of primary.’ There have been many highlights this term; the work of our Year 10 ELBS course with a group of visiting Japanese business men to create an outside classroom complete with pond and seating area and the contribution of our Year 10 and 11 teams at Youth Speak stand out in my mind. However I must say I am delighted that the academic achievement of our students is also being recognised and that parents can be confident that their child not only attends a ‘good’ school, but one of the top performing schools in the country. I am lucky to work with such amazing students that give so much extra effort to make John Ruskin School the fantastic place it is. Before the next issue of the JRS Express is published our Year 11 students will have sat their GCSE exams and I wish them well, I am sure their hard work will get them the outcomes they deserve and keep JRS as one of the best performing schools in the country. Mr Blackburn

On the 22nd

February the Year 10 environmental and land based science group set off once again along Coniston Water heading for Boon Crag. All our hard work keeping our sheep healthy was about to pay off as our sheep were due. We hoped to see a sheep lamb, as it would be a new experi-ence for some of the stu-dents. A set of twins and triplets had been born through the night and so students weighed and marked the lambs. Their coursework was to moni-tor the weight of the lambs over the coming months and compare singles, twins and triplets. Almost as soon as we left the farm a ewe decided to lamb which was typical! Overnight two more lambed and so a few stu-dents returned the follow-ing day after school. Lambs were weighed and yet again as soon as we left a sheep started lamb-ing. Charlie was deter-mined to see his first sheep lamb and so over-

Safer Internet Day 2016

Continued on page 3

A busy time in the math’s department, with Year 11 revision, Year 10 mock exams and the annual math’s challenges, all happening in a small space of time. Here are the fantastic math’s Intermediate chal-lenge 2016 Results: Beth Wickens scored a massive 68 points to be the only person to gain a Gold award and top the Year 11 scores, followed by Jessica Parkinson with a Silver award and Callum Slater with a Bronze. In Year 10, Meg Na-rongchai took pole posi-tion and gained a silver award, with Simone Clark, Chloe Lafferty and Harry Elkington-Crabtree all gaining a respectable bronze. Lower down in Year 9, Ethan Powell stole the lead by a massive 8 points over his next peer rival, to be top of the Year 9’s, followed by Hari Gill and then Nicky Kitchingman all gaining a bronze award. Excellent effort by all who took part and well done to our award winners.

The UKMT Team Math’s Challenge 2016.

On a snowy cold, March Friday, John Ruskin School sent a crack team of mathematicians to Bar-row sixth form college to enter the Annual North West Regional, Math’s Team Challenge. Our mathematics squad con-sisted of James Mallett and Jessamine Hamilton (Yr 8) and Ethan Powell and Nicky Kitchingman (Yr 9). Our day started with the group round and moved determinedly on to the deep thinking cross number game. Later, fol-lowing nourishment, and motivational team talks, the shuttle task took form and pushed our students to the limit, finally ending the day with a high speed relay round, leaving our top team mathed-out, weary but proud of their own efforts.

Our fine young mathema-ticians came 6

th out of 11

local schools, moving up 3 places from last year. Maybe next year, it will be 3

rd place!!! Great day, pos-

itive attitude, well done to the JRS mathematicians of 2016.

ACHIEVING IN MATHS

as well as safer. There were interesting differ-ences between what some pupils perceived as funny and others as ‘crossing the line’, though all the pupils were aware of what was illegal. Typing offen-sive, threatening or false comments online that cause the recipient alarm, harassment, distress or anxiety or sharing inde-cent images has the same consequence as face to face actions and what’s more, cyberspace-proof of the offence is stored forev-er!’

hurtful but can break the law. PCSO Forrester was able to respond to student questions about what the law says about digital communications and was on the spot to illustrate some of the issues she had to deal with and the impact these had on peo-ples’ lives. She enjoyed working with the students and took the time to reflect on her experience of the day, ‘The emphasis of SID 2016 was to help make the internet a kinder place

Page 3 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

‘Students are welcoming to visitors and extremely

interesting and pleasant to talk to ’

Ofsted 2015

Continued from page 2

WIDER CURRICULUM OPPORTUNITIES AT JRS

Year 8 Fire-fighters It was the turn of Year 8 Thurston students to take part in the week long fire-fighters course. After the success of Year 8 Brant-wood in the Autumn term it was clear that this co-hort were very excited and certainly up for the chal-lenge. They did not disap-point and threw them-selves into the various activities from using hos-es, ladder work, the heart start program to learning how to deal with road traf-fic accidents and much more. The students demonstrat-ed their new found skills, at the end of the week, to family, friends and guests including Dave Coxon, from the Lake District Na-tional Park and Barry Doughty and Anne Hall from the council, who are supportive of the work done by the fire service. Certificates were awarded by John Wall, Operations Commander for Barrow and the South Lakes. The course has had a hugely positive effect on

our students and a massive thank-you should go to Willy Watson and Jason Fergu-son for their commitment and enthusiasm in organ-ising this exceptional course.

Careers Convention The annual convention was held in January. All students in Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 attended the event and providers were very impressed with the maturi-ty of each year group. Stu-dents needed little encour-agement to find out about possible career paths. Uniformed services were represented along with the local sixth forms and col-leges, including agricultur-al colleges. Apprentice-ships and companies were represented from Siemans, BAE, Kimberly Clarke, GenII to Loungy Upholstery and the Na-tional Park. Careers ad-vice was on hand from Inspira. This was a bump-er year as we seem to attract more providers each year.

Page 4 JRS EXPRESS

‘Everyone in the

school thrives

because of the strong

emphasis on fairness,

equality of

opportunity and

inclusivity’

Ofsted 2015

Youth Parliament Year 7 and 8 students spent an afternoon on Wednesday 3rd February learning all about how parliament is run, includ-ing the House of Com-mons and the House of Lords. Near to replica seating was set up in the hall to include the govern-ment and opposition. Stu-dents were set the task to debate the bill about 16 year olds having the right to vote. We nominated a speaker and students had to stand if they wanted to put forward their point of view but could only speak when given permission by the speaker. Many phrases including 'my right honourable friend' and 'Mr Speaker' were used successfully, along with very persuasive argu-ments on both sides. Students then got into groups and were given ideas on how to set up their own political party including a mini manifesto. They presented their ide-as and canvased for sup-port. Finally the students got to vote for their favour-ite. All throughout the af-ternoon, everyone was thoroughly immersed in the workshop, which hopefully will lead to stu-dents having a greater awareness of our, often complicated, parliamen-tary systems. Many thanks to Rachael Dodg-son from the regional par-liamentary outreach office for delivering such an in-formative session.

SEE THE WEBSITE FOR PICTURES OF OUR

AMAZING SKI TRIP TO ITALY IN JANUARY.

THERE ARE LIMITED PLACES AVAILABLE

FOR NEXT YEAR SO IF YOU ARE

INTERESTED RETURN YOUR LETTER AS

SOON AS POSSIBLE!

On 24th February Year 8 &

9 took part in a STEM en-gineering challenge. The morning started off talking about the Smallpeice Trust which introduce stu-dents to the exciting world of engineering by bringing science, technology, engi-neering and maths sub-jects to life.

During the morning stu-dents listened to a talk about engineering and engineering careers, they looked at its impact on their lives, then discussed a series of scenarios where the students con-sidered engineering solu-tions in different fields. Great imagination was shown by students and some interesting engi-neering ideas presented.

Students moved on to consider what energy is,

ENERGISING ENGINEERING EVENT

10 students making the trip to the Hawcoat Park Sports Centre, in Barrow-in-Furness. The tournament involves over 100 schools from within Cumbria & Lanca-shire, taking part at ten

Over the Spring term, stu-dents have been preparing for the 2016 Rotary BAE Systems Technology Tour-nament, which took place on the 18 March 2016. This year there were four Year 8 students, four Year 9 students and four Year

Page 5 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

2016 Rotary BAE Systems Technology Tournament

its importance to modern life and how demand for it has increased exponen-tially to population growth. The maths of big numbers was tested and population growth using students was modelled.

Students then got crack-ing on building their solar powered cars. Two chal-lenges were given to stu-dents - accuracy and all out first past the post. As well as building the cars, there was ongoing review of processes and tech-niques before the final races. It was great to see so much excitement being generated by science. Congratulations go to the Year 8 team aptly named The Engineers; Kye Ward, Hollie Athersmith and Reece King, who success-fully won both the accura-cy and first past the post races.

regional centers through-out the North West. The objectives of the Tour-nament are: To encourage the young people taking part to see design and technology as stimulating, attractive and challenging

To give those taking part an opportunity to develop their team building and communication skills whilst solving a design and technology problem at the level and with the assessment criteria re-quired by the National Curriculum

The teams of four students are given a task, to over-

come a problem, using limited materials, tools and equipment. Students have to use teamwork, planning and communication, to succeed. This year’s teams: Year 8 - Sam Kennelly, Hugo Powell, Ben Albion, Matthew Steele Year 9 - Richie Hill, Nicky Kitchingman, Lauryn Kirk-bride, Hari Gill Year 10 - Charlotte Mal-lett, Leah Albion, Charlie Kelly, Robert Albion If you are interested in getting involved next year, why not come along to the JRS Technology club!

WRITES OF PASSAGE, ROTARY CLUB AND REVISION!

public speaking. JRS were the top placed Cumbrian school and the Year 10s will be delivering their Youth Speak presen-tation at a Rotary Club event in Stockport in March. All the students involved in Youth Speak represented the school brilliantly and we look for-ward to going even further in the competition next year. Our focus now is Year 11

and the revision sessions

are in full swing – we’ve

made ‘language features’

bookmarks, crafted revi-

sion postcards for Of Mice

and Men and students

have ‘windows of success’

through which they can

analyse parts of any set

text. Year 11 should be

commended for their at-

tendance and commitment

at these after school ses-

sions and we look forward

to more English revision

fun after the Easter break!

Page 6 JRS EXPRESS

‘There is a wonderful

atmosphere for

learning. Staff and

students are highly

motivated to do their

best, so everyone

thrives’

Ofsted 2015

This term has seen Year 11 completing their final controlled assessments for their GCSE English Language course; Year 9 meeting Macbeth and the whole school celebrating World Book Day with the opening paragraphs from six ‘Writes of Passage’ books from the World Book Day website. It was a fantastic chance to share some amazing texts – many of which are part of Accelerated Reader and available in the li-brary. The English department were proud to take two teams to the regional North West finals of the Rotary Club’s Youth Speak competition. Jess Parkinson, Samantha Laf-ferty and Callum Slater represented Year 11 and Harry Elkington Crabtree, Chloe Lafferty and Ben Raines comprised our Year 10 team – we trav-elled to Kirkham in Lanca-shire for an exciting day of

At the end of Year 9 KS3 Catering ran a Junior Master Chef Competition. The judges were Mr Blackburn, Mrs Sture and Mrs Leather-Barrow. It was super to see the range of skills and recipes that were displayed during the competition. The brief was to design and make a main course or dessert suitable for a celebrity who is coming to open your new restaurant. Mrs Parkinson was very proud of the Year 9 Chefs as all the students made a determined and enthusi-astic effort to produce su-per meals for their chosen celebrity from Chris Hoy to Miranda Hart to Darcy Bussell. The judges marked the

student entry on the areas of planning and prepara-tion, health and safety, culinary skills and the final taste and presentation. Mrs Parkinson also includ-ed marks for the presenta-tion folders. It was a very difficult deci-sion! Spring Term Masterchef 2016 ...THE WINNERS ARE... Matthew Waring and Lia Healy. Special Award for effort and enthusiasm to Xander Howard. Mrs Parkinson would like to congratulate all the Year 9 Students on their efforts --- Well Done!

YEAR 9 ARE MASTERCHEF FINALISTS

In Year 8 we have been into Coniston practising our land use mapping skills and doing a shopping sur-vey about how shops have changed over time. The new GCSE Geography course has now been ac-credited and the depart-ment has started planning for its implementation and will be attending training in Manchester after Easter. The summer term will also see the Year 10 geogra-phers visit Lancaster as part of their fieldwork.

Following the December floods geography students seized the opportunity to study the causes of flood-ing, flood hydrographs, impacts of flooding and how we can prepare for floods. A display showing samples of work are out-side room 12, do have a look if you have chance. Year 7 geographers visit-ed the Ruskin Museum as part of a combined project with history to look at the history of settlement in the Coniston area. We are now busy creating a dis-play all about our local area, inspired by our learning from this trip.

Page 7 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

GEOGRAPHY NEWS

‘Teachers make sure

lessons are interesting

and capture students’

imagination’

Ofsted 2015

Outdoor Learning We have been a little ham-pered by the weather this term but where possible we have been out developing our skills. In the classroom we have been busy prac-tising our mapskills in prep-aration for the navigation assessment day which will take place in April. We all enjoyed a recent visit to the mountain rescue base to learn about safety on the fells. DUKE OF EDINBURGH The expedition dates are as follows; 24

th-25

th June Prac-

tice Expedition; 19th

-20th

July Assessed Expedition. More details will follow nearer the time.

Congratulations to Lauren Waring, Charlotte Harri-son, Victoria Woodbridge, Evie Frost and Elouise Pidduck who have all now completed their bronze award.

‘I have really enjoyed rug-

by club because we do

physical and fun activities

to show our skills.’

Autumn Betteridge Y8 ‘The rugby club is great

fun and you can do it with

your friends. The coaches

are great and they have

improved my image on

rugby.’

Isabelle Mayer-Walters Y8 ‘I really enjoy the tag rugby club because it is fun to learn the skills to play it.’ Jess Hamilton Y8 ‘I really enjoy going to the

lunchtime girls rugby club.

You learn a lot of new

skills and the year 10

coaches are really fun to

play rugby with. I would

definitely recommend it to

any girls, no matter her

level of fitness.’

For the past few months

we have been completing

a rugby leaders course, it

has involved learning the

game of rugby and differ-

ent skills that can be used

to develop a players skill

level.

This has led to us starting

up a lunch time tag rugby

club for girls in Year 7, 8

and 9, as rugby leaders we

plan and organise all the

sessions. It has been very

successful and we all real-

ly enjoy participating.

Charlotte Clarke Y8 ‘The tag rugby club is

great because it’s really

fun and the leaders are

very kind. We do enjoyable

activities to practise our

skills and learn the game

of rugby.’

Hollie Athersmith Y8 ‘Rugby club is really good I really like it because it teaches you a lot of things about rugby and what to do.’ Grace Elkington-Crabtree Y8

SIX NATIONS FEVER SWEEPS JRS

Visit our website at http://www.jrs.org.uk for more information on all these

stories and the many other activities our students have been successful in

KS3 GET TAGGED INTO RUGBY

Pictures taken from Inter Cross Country Champion-ships where both Joe and Ben qualified to run for

Cumbria in the English Schools National Champion-ships!

Congratulations!

EDMONDSON BROTHERS RUNNING PROUD