Ripon Cathedral School Update

Week ending Friday 31st January 2025

Young Voices

The day finally arrived this week for the Young Voices concert at Sheffield Arena! Forty-three excited pupils from Years 4, 5 and 6 set off to the arena on Tuesday lunchtime and spent the afternoon with over 4000 other children rehearsing the 12 songs they had been learning in school and at home for the last few months. In the evening, the arena filled up with friends and family and the concert began. The children had the opportunity to dance and sing along with the Young Voices band and other popular acts including the Strictly Come Dancing singer Tommy Blaze and rapper MC Grammar. The staff were incredibly proud of the way the group represented the school on the day – they sang and danced with confidence and energy, behaved beautifully and coped well with the challenge of a long day and a late night! Mrs Walsh would like to thank all the children for the hard work and effort they have put in over the last few months, giving up their time to attend the rehearsals and practising the songs at home. A special thank you goes to Owethu (Year 6) and Ella (Year 5) for designing the logo for our T-Shirts. Thanks to Mrs Armstrong, Mrs Spencer, Mrs Waters and our parent volunteer Sam for making it possible to take part in the event by giving up their time to accompany the children. And finally, a huge thank you to parents and carers for collecting the children from school so late at night, and to those who made the journey to the arena to be part of the audience.

Candlemas

We were invited once again by the Cathedral to assist with the setting up of candles in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit for the Festival of Candlemas. Spiritual council gathered last week to put together a design based around our school value for this term: Peace. They chose to represent the dove of peace and surround this with rays of light to represent Jesus the light of the world, who was presented at the temple on Candlemas. This morning, the eight pupils in Spiritual Council visited the Cathedral to set up their tableau ready for the service tomorrow. They were pleased with how the design turned out when created out of candles, and we are sure the design will look even more spectacular when illuminated. The candles will be lit during the service at 5.30pm on Saturday 1st February.

Inter-School Dance Competition

On Wednesday, a group of Year 3 children took part in the Sporting Influence inter-school KS2 dance event. The group faced stiff competition with many groups being much older than them. They danced to 'Me' by Taylor Swift and did a brilliant performance. The children loved the experience and represented the school with pride. Well done to Sophia, Natasza, Ella, Lily, George, Felix, Emelia and Isla!

Holocaust Memorial Day

On Monday morning, a small group of Year 6 children walked to the Cathedral to participate in the service for Holocaust Memorial Day. Although it was a sombre occasion, everyone agreed it was a privilege to be part of this moving event. Thank you to the pupils for being so respectful, they were a credit to the school, and for their responses to the service:

"The Holocaust Memorial service was extremely moving, especially when some of the speakers were speaking aloud in Hebrew." - Danny

"It was thought-provoking and I was left speechless at times." - Joshua

"Although I do not know much about what happened in the Holocaust, during the service, I could see how upset others were which was very upsetting for me too. What some Jews went through was horrific and it must be awful knowing your family has been put through that." - Dominic

Children's Mental Health Week

Next week is Children's Mental Health week. This year's theme is 'Know Yourself, Grow Yourself, and children will be exploring the theme in school throughout the week. The children's mental health charity Place2Be has a range of great resources for schools and families - please visit the website at Families - Children's Mental Health Week to find out more about how you can support your child's mental health at home. On Wednesday, Year 3 will be leading worship on the theme - parents and carers are welcome to join us at 9am.

Stars of the Week

Congratulations to this week's stars:

Nursery - Louie for his perseverance with independent activities.

Reception - Wilfred for showing determination and perseverance when building a model of a dragon and drawing and labelling a diagram of it using his phonics' knowledge.

Year 1 - Ella for showing lots of focus in our writing sessions. She has worked hard to use the key features of a non-fiction text. She has also been a kind and caring friend to your learning partner.

Year 2 - Jarred for his resilience and determination in maths this week. Jarred is super at identifying the value of different coins and notes, counting in pence and finding coins to make different amounts.

Year 3 - Felix for going outside of his comfort zone to perform in the dance competition, he was brilliant.

Year 4 - Phoebe for being aspirational with your writing and challenging yourself with vocabulary choice to help build an image through writing.

Year 5 - Jeffrey for his positive attitude and resilience in maths when adding and subtracting fractions.

Year 6 - Evelyn for fabulous contributions in English lessons, helping some Year 1 children with their English and for being a great friend.

Admin Requests

Please see below information about the ScholarPack app in case you missed it last week. It would be helpful if all parents look over the details school holds about their child/ren from time to time to check it is accurate (this is possible if you use the app). Please can you make sure you let the school office know of any changes e.g. to address or mobile phone numbers promptly. Email rbingham@riponcathedral.n-yorks.sch.uk Thank you.

We are aware that some parents do not receive notifications for the ScholarPack app and therefore sometimes see a message a little late. We have started to send some more urgent or key messages via text as generally most people do see these more quickly. However, it would really help us keep the bills down if we could send messages via the app wherever possible. Please could you ensure you have switched on notifications for the ScholarPack App. If you are unclear on how to do this, please check with the office or an internet search engine might be easier! If you remain with notifications switched off, please can we ask you to check the ScholarPack App regularly? Many thanks.