Newsletters

Dear Year 7 Students, congratulations on completing the first term of your secondary education!

Understandably you started this year with mixed emotions - nervous, anxious and excited but before long, you became a real pride of the Rutlish community. You have settled brilliantly within your tutor groups and have also adapted well to the new set changes.

It is refreshing to see how you have engaged with the various extracurricular activities on offer and have shown that you understand the importance of having different dimensions to your learning.

Parents, over the last term your son has shown incredible grit and resilience and for this you should be immensely proud.

Unfortunately, some of you have had some disruptions to your attendance due to the current pandemic, but we hope next term will be less challenging.  

Mr Tucker, your tutors and I are all very happy with what you have achieved thus far and are looking forward to celebrating your numerous successes this term.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  

Miss Graham & Mr Tucker and the Year 7 Team

Congratulations Year 8 on a successful term back at Rutlish.

All of the Year 8 team are very proud on how you have adapted to going ‘back to normal’ (almost). You have shown resilience in Year 7 and this year. You have worked with your teachers and staff to learn the parts of Rutlish you were not able to before.

Well done if you have put yourself forward for competitions, representing your house and volunteering for activities, whether they be sporting events or other extra-curricular. We encourage healthy competition and collaboration with your tutor group and house teams.

We have had many of you who want to show their leadership this year by becoming a Tutor Representative for numeracy, literacy, eco and many more. These opportunities will be valuable to put towards your leadership folder and demonstrate your capabilities and skills outside of lessons, so we encourage you to continue to engage with the wider school life.

With Christmas ahead, we want to thank all the parents and carers for your continued support. We hope you have a lovely break and time with family and look forward to a good start to the year, 2022.

All the best,
Mr Holt & Mr Embling & the Year 8 team

As the end of the Autumn Term approaches, a little note to say well done to you all. It has been wonderful to observe you socialising at break and lunchtimes, attending the many extracurricular activities, participating in the variety of House Competitions as well as hearing all about the pantomime trip. Mr Ross and I have also enjoyed visiting you at tutor time, observing you working on the pastoral projects as well as seeing you putting in the hard work in lessons.

As a year group once again you have shown exceptional levels of resilience. Well done especially to students who have required to isolate at home – we fully appreciate the challenges it can bring.

Our Celebration of Achievement Assembly will play a small part to acknowledge key achievements from the Autumn Term.

Over the holidays please enjoy the time being with family and friends: relax, rest and recuperate and when we come back aim to be refreshed and ready for the term ahead.

On behalf of Mr Ross and I, we would also like to express our gratitude to your tutors – they constantly work behind the scenes for your benefit as well as having the pleasure of seeing your faces every morning!

Parents and carers: thank you for your continued support and communication.

On behalf of Mr Ross, Yr 9 Tutors and I, we would like to wish you and your family a Happy Christmas!  

Please stay safe and well as we welcome in 2022!
Mrs Edwards & Mr Ross and the Year 9 Team

It’s been a really successful first term of your GCSE Options and we have been really pleased with how you have adapted to KS4.  It’s been pleasing to see you settle into new subjects, new teachers and new groups of friends. 

It was great to share time as a year group on Year 10 Careers Day a few weeks ago where we had some excellent ideas for your projects and brilliant presentations; congratulations once again to the winning team who will represent the school at the regional finals in Birmingham later this year. 

As we embark on a new year and a term, you will have your first formal assessments of Year 10; remember how we started this year.  What is your intent?  Why are you studying what you’re studying? What do you want in the future?  What will you do to implement change where it’s needed or further focus to ensure you have your desired impact?  How can you get involved in the new year, do something different, branch out of your comfort zone? 

I’ll leave you with those thoughts as you begin your Christmas break – enjoy the holiday and stay safe. 

Parents and carers – thank you for your continued support and we wish you all a happy and healthy 2022. 
Ms Pearce & Mr Foster and the Year 10 Team

Well done to all Year 11 students for completing the Autumn Term. There has been some excellent learning, revision and extra-curricular activities throughout the term.

As we go into Spring Term I wish students all the best of luck as more college applications close and interviews start, including for RR6.

Towards the end of this term Year 11 completed a tough and challenging mock examination period. You have earned your Christmas break without any doubt and I hope you have an enjoyable couple of weeks whatever you are doing.

See you in January ready to go again.

Thanks
Mr Price & Mr Turley and the Year 11 Team

It has been brilliant to see our new cohort in Year 12 settle in so well to RR6 this term.  

Students have started their two years of academic independence, focus and ambition with relish, diving head first into their new courses, forming new relationships with peers and teachers, and becoming ambassadors for the whole school community. 

I have been particularly impressed by those who have taken up opportunities alongside their academic diligence, such as creating and delivering assemblies, taking on leadership roles, or taking part in focus groups and enrichment activities. 

These last few weeks focused on independent study and revision in advance of the January exams, followed by further personal development in anticipation of writing personal statements. 

The RR6 staff encourage students to find a healthy balance between work and rest over the coming weeks, and I hope this will ensure you all have a happy, healthy Christmas break.

Ms Long-McWilliams and the Year 12 Team

It is nearing the end of an exceptionally busy term and I am sure students are looking forward to a well-deserved rest. We have had assessment week, mock exams, charity events and football matches. Students have worked extremely hard and we are pleased that they have maintained a positive attitude.

Year 13 are currently completing their UCAS applications with the expectation that we will have a significant number of successful Russell group applicants. Quite a few of our Oxbridge candidates were successful in achieving interviews and are currently waiting for further news on this. good luck to everyone!

We want to wish those who celebrate the birth of Christ a wonderful Christmas and those who are looking forward to the festive break …happy holidays. Have a fabulous New Year and we wish you all the very best for 2022.

Mrs Bremner and the Year 13 Team

Rutlish students are working hard to learn their lines for their 2022 school production of Bugsy Malone. It looks set to be a truly spectacular affair! The magic takes place in Drama club every Tuesday – Friday at lunch–time. Students with main parts will need to practice their lines over the Christmas holidays.

Students rang in the holidays with three superb performances of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by the Quantum Theatre Company. Students were mesmerised by the beautiful set and the amazing depiction of Scrooge. What a way to ring in the festive season! Each performance received a resounding round of applause.

At Rutlish, we aim to develop students’ cultural capital and encourage them to explore broader themes and issues in contemporary society. We encourage greater awareness of the world around them, through participation and shared learning. Some of our students have been actively engaged in a weekly workshop aimed at building confidence and communication, as well as speech and language, through theatre. They learn about different genres while developing the skills of team work and cooperative learning. Students have commented on how working with the professionals from the Attic Theatre Company has "improved their self-confidence and love of acting’’. We look forward to starting with a new cohort of students in the Spring Term.

We rang in the festive season with 200 students taking part in our annual pantomime visit to Wimbledon Theatre; this year to watch the spectacular Dick Whittington. They were treated to a stellar performance by Shane Ritchie from East Enders who, along with his trusty cat, took them on an exciting journey through the streets of London in a bid to slay King Rat and the awful henchmen. Staff and students thoroughly enjoyed the show!

Ms Dawkins

Our students had been practising hard for the Christmas Concert, but the impact of Covid meant we could not hold it in person. However, we still want to showcase their talent and hard work, so we have recorded their performances for a virtual concert and they are available for you to listen to on our website, please click on this link: 

Mrs Steele

Football
Rutlish have had a thrilling first term full of exciting football fixtures.

Kicking off with the Year 7, they have had a fantastic start to the season winning their first game 6-2. They are still in the National Cp with their next round fixture to be played soon and they are also into the last 16 of the County Cup. The attendance to football club on a Thursday has been outstanding with around 75 students attending most week, well done year 7!

Moving on to the Year 8s, they made it up to round 3 on the National Cup which is an outstanding achievement. They have also been getting some great results on local friendly fixtures picking up some wins with some unbelievable goals.  

Basketball
This year we have been able to run basketball after-school clubs, which has been very well received by the students at Rutlish. Clubs have been well attended and we have also competed in fixtures enabling a range of year groups to put their training skills into action against other schools.

As it stands, the Year 10 basketball team has made the most progress giving us hope to see a success in the near future. Every player has made a tremendous effort in matches and training that has enabled them to become a solid team.  We have recently increased their training to two days a week ensuring they are well-prepared for their next fixture.

Year 7 basketball team has made a great start of the season by winning their first game against Chessington School. Luke and Michael have been leading the team in all training sessions and recently in talks for increasing the training session hours to train even harder for greater success for Rutlish School.

Year 7 have had the highest turn out to the basketball club since September and this enabled them to create a strong and solid team.

The Year 8 team have been training very hard since September and have been unlucky in their fixtures being cancelled by our opposition due to the ongoing pandemic. In their only game this year they showed teamwork, commitment and hard work but narrowly lost out on victory in the final stages of the game. Best of luck to them in the new year.

Rugby

Rugby clubs have been very well attended with teams in every year group. Students have spent time working on enhancing their basic skills and awareness to allow them to exploit the space during games and work together as a team. It has been great to see the development of our students with many of our Year 10 players also being selected to attend Harlequins Development Player Pathway Squads. This experience has resulted in Ben and Hamdan being selected to play for Harlequins U16’s Vs Northampton Saints. A massive congratulation’s to these boys.

Year 10 played one of the best games of rugby I have seen in a long time against Old Emanuel’s in the National Cup. After going down on the scoreboard they demonstrated composure, heart, determination and team unity to bring the game back and gain the lead as we entered the final quarter of the game. A try for Old Emanuel’s in the last seconds sealed our fate but the team could not have tried any harder. An amazing game of rugby and we were extremely proud of their performance.

Year7 and 8 squads have progressed well, both teams being competitive in Surrey festivals. Our Year 8 team have had a string of good results working well as a team, showing passion and pride when playing with a solid defence and scoring some great tries in their games. A promising side!

Year9 have had a mix bag of results showing glimpses of potential and some individual brilliance in attack and defence. Unfortunately results have not gone their way but with continued work at training on organisation we hope they will get the win they deserve.

Inter-house football is taking place all this week. It has been fiercely competitive and we will have update the house scores for the start of next term.

Congratulations and thank you to all the students who have represented Rutlish this term. 

Mr Greenhalgh