14 January 2016
Over the years, some themes re-emerge in education
circles. There has long been a call to move formal
examinations away from the Summer hay fever season
and, in recent weeks, there has been some press coverage
suggesting that exams should not happen during faith
festivals. I suspect if I asked the parents of Year 6 their
choice, it would be to avoid the possibility of ice and snow
falls. That would leave very little of some years and make
it difficult to accommodate all the papers children are
faced with over the course of their lives in school.
Year 6 are currently taking 11+ entrance examinations.
The first ones were last Saturday and will, with the
interviews, run through January. Many are taken on
Saturdays, which makes some weeks very long. The
children approach them calmly, it is often Mums and Dads
who feel more anxious! We wish Year 6 the very best of
good luck and will be reporting results to you as they
come in.
CONGRATULATIONS!

To James K on achieving his Bronze award in the
Kellogg’s ASA swimming challenge.

To Ginika who achieved a Bronze Medal for third
place at the City of Leeds 200m breaststroke
challenge.

To Connie who sent a picture of her rabbit, Lily, to
Blue Peter and was rewarded with a Blue Peter
Badge.
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!
Happy Birthday to Grace J, Emma L, Sam B and Ellen D. We
also wish Mrs Walton Many Happy Returns.
We raised a total of £73.94 from our Poppy Appeal.
Thank you to everyone who donated.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Thu 14 Jan
6.30pm PA Meeting in School
January
Entrance Exams for Year 6 pupils
Fri 12 Feb
Close for Half Term
Mon 22 Feb
School Opens
Wed 2 Mar
Spring Concert at St Chad’s Parish
Centre
Thu 3 Mar
Class Photographs
Wed 9 Mar
2.00pm EYFS Open Afternoon
Thu 10 Mar
8.40am PA Meeting in School
Mon 14 Mar
Year 6 trip to Paris, France
Wed 16 Mar
Parents’ Evening Y1-Y5
Thu 17 Mar
10.00am Parents & Tots
NOTICE BOARD
Musical Theatre lessons are starting in April. Does your child
like to sing and act? If so, this would be an ideal opportunity
for him or her to express themselves through music. If you
haven’t already signed up for this activity, please inform Mrs
Jepson in the School Office.
PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION
The next meeting of the PA is this, Thursday 14 January, at
6.30pm in the school dining room, all welcome.
We are looking for a new members to join our Ball
Committee and also to lead the organisation of this year's
Summer Fair. Whether you are an existing member who
would like to get more involved, or are new to the PA, it
would be great to hear from you if you think you can help.
Contact us via the office or by emailing
[email protected].
Year 3 have had a very busy and exciting few weeks making
some amazing pyramids in their Science lessons, once they
had experimented to find best quantity of components for a
cement mix. Next, they painted their pyramids and Ancient
Egyptian model houses and have built up an Egyptian town
which sits along the River Nile!
Michelle Lofthouse—Chair
You will see that they have added a very sparkly River Nile, a
sandy desert and they also have some wonderful Lego
statues of gods and Pharaohs! Although I'm sure you will
agree that this already looks very impressive, it is work in
progress, because the children would now like to make some
boats with sails and some bridges!
Harriet in Year 5 played the Piano at St James' Hospital, in the
Bexley Wing on 23 December for two hours. She played on
the baby grand piano for patients, visitors and staff, and
represented Richmond House School in her uniform.
So, this is where you folks come in - if you should happen to
be opening any bottles with 'corks' over the next couple of
weeks, please can we ask you to save the corks and send
them in as they will make great little boats for sticking sails in
with cocktail sticks. Watch this space for future
developments!
On Christmas Eve, Harriet had also been invited to play at the
Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds before the pantomime
showing she was going to watch of Aladdin. She played for
one hour there.
In total Harriet raised over £271 with both days’ efforts
towards the Yorkshire Cancer Centre.
Harriet has set her New Year’s target for 2016 to raise £2,700
to provide free television and phone calls for patients over
the Christmas and New Year period of 2016 on Ward 88 at
the Bexley Wing, where her father was treated for cancer.
Mrs Matthews & Mr Haldane
Year 3 Teachers
SPORTS UPDATE!
HOCKEY
RHS U8s & U9s v Moorlands
On Wednesday 13 January, most of the Year 6 girls went to
Adel Hockey club to play a match against Gateways. The ‘A’
team made a cracking start and at half time the score was 5–1.
On a very muddy pitch, the U8s and U9s took on local
neighbours Moorlands for their first football match of the
season. The U8s looked very sharp from the off and scored
some excellent goals. Their main aim was to work as a team
and for most of the game they did that, bearing in mind it
was very difficult to pass the ball in such muddy conditions.
Amar in Year 2 made his debut for the school and showed
why he definitely has a future in the sport if he continues,
demonstrating some slick passing and dribbling. James J was
also outstanding in goals, but was also able to show
versatility by playing in the outfield. Noah worked hard as
team captain and scored some excellent goals, as did Zach
and Ethan. Adam and Yuhan were solid in defence and
Thomas tried his best.
The U9s had to work hard for their win as their pitch was
really boggy. However, strong defending from Ginika
allowed Haayid to score four excellent goals, with Ethan and
Michael also strong in defence. Once RHS had also got past
‘chatting to the opposition’ and started concentrating more,
they did produce some good football in ever-worsening
conditions. Joseph was also very strong in defence and
worked hard in the midfield area, with Edward supporting.
Adam made some game-saving saves in goals and Oliver
proved a tricky customer when he was focused.
I have offered the parents the school hose pipe should they
not wish to let their muddy child get in the car after matches!
I think the best comment I hear was ‘I wish I had a girl’, just
as the netballers appeared off the court, still pristine!
Many thanks for all the support as usual. The next game is a
tough encounter away at Gateways on Friday 22nd January.
Mr S Lowe
Georgia H played up front and was brilliant at tapping the ball
in whenever a pass was made into the D and scored 7 goals!
Olivia controlled the midfield and ran tirelessly all afternoon,
as well as scoring a hat trick. Emma and Imogen worked very
hard on the wings both in defence and offence. Anamaria and
Leah worked hard in defence making sure that Elissa did not
have to do too much in goal. She did make 2 very good saves.
The eventual score was 11–2.
The ‘B’ team included some girls who had never played a
match for the school before. It was great to watch their level
of commitment and their team work. Livia seemed to be
everywhere on the pitch, defending, attacking and even saving
a couple of goals! Grace M was playing in goal for the first
time and made a couple of commendable saves. However,
she was not put under too much pressure owing to the great
defending by Eimhir and Orla. Arabella and Georgia T
controlled the midfield, making sure the ball got through the
Gateways’ defenders allowing Sophia to score a hat trick and
set up 2 more goals for Livia and Arabella to tap in. The final
score was 5–1. All the girls played very well and enjoyed their
match.
Mrs C Mullis
Year 2 Wet Wellie Walk to the Yurt!
Year 3 have been learning all about the 'Weighing of the Heart Ceremony' during their Ancient Egyptian studies and recently
acted out the whole ceremony. The children wore masks and costumes and became priests, gods and goddesses and even an
Egyptian god called 'Ammit - The Devourer', who greedily awaited the judgement of weighing the heart against the 'feather of
truth' in the 'Hall of the Dead' - on this occasion, Hunifer had led a good and truthful life, so the 'Devourer' growled with
disappointment as he retreated.
I'm sure you will see from the pictures that the children had a lot of fun whilst learning about this Ancient Egyptian belief!
Mrs J Matthews
Humanities Co-ordinator