Ripon Cathedral School Update

On Tuesday, Year 4 had an absolutely amazing time at Bewerley Park, where they worked together in teams to build rafts. They found tying the ropes difficult but they worked together fantastically. We are pleased to say that all the rafts were successful. Phew! This didn’t stop the children from getting wet though. As we were heading back to shore, they thoroughly enjoyed jumping in and walking their way back to land.

The other half of the day was spent at Brimham Rocks. The park was filled with determination and courage as the children climbed rocks and squeezed through the tiniest of holes. They encouraged each other along the way and helped each other with every challenge. We are very proud of them all. We had such a fantastic time!

On Monday, Year 3 had an amazing experience at Bewerley Park. The three groups took part in orienteering and canoeing activities in and around the Outdoor Activity Centre.

'I learned to respect nature and love my friends. I also learned how to canoe and how to push the canoe into the water as a team. I love canoeing because they taught us the different paddle strokes. They taught us how to turn the boat around and around. Our teacher splashed us and I got extremely wet. I wish I had jumped in the lake, even though it was cold.'

Felix

'The best thing about Bewerley Park for me was when we went in the woods, we were orienteering and we found an old ice house. When we went in it was dark and spiders were in there! I loved it!'

Blake

'My favourite thing on the trip was jumping in the ice-cold lake! I also liked the spooky ice cave because it was so dark.'

Freya

Trips, visits and visitors are a very important part of our curriculum offer. They provided enriching experiences and make learning more engaging.

We have had hugely positive feedback from Key Stage 2 families whose children have been on our adventurous activities over the last few weeks (see above - do watch the films!). These activities cost significantly more than the contributions that we have requested, as we believe they are such valuable opportunities.

As we move through the academic year, we are aware that the cost of living crisis will continue to impact on our families' finances. We are keen to still offer as many opportunities for the children as possible, including residential visits and day trips. As a school we will continue to ensure that we apply best value principles and keep costs as low as possible.

As I am sure you can appreciate, school budgets are being impacted by the energy crisis and unfunded wage rises; therefore, we do need to make you aware that although we will do our best to support the costs of visits, if insufficient contributions are received, some visits may have to be cancelled. We are hopeful that this will not be the case.

Thank you for everyone's ongoing support in providing the best opportunities for the children at Ripon Cathedral School.

Our Harvest Festival will be led by Year 4 on Tuesday 11th October at 10.30am in the Cathedral. Parents and carers are more than welcome to come along.

As part of our Harvest celebrations we will be doing a collection for Ripon Community House. They are an organisation who provide emergency food support for people in crisis in Ripon, Boroughbridge and the surrounding villages. They are happy to receive donations of food and have a particular need for the following items:

Tinned rice pudding and custard

Tinned vegetables (not peas)

Toiletries

Deodorants

Toothpastes

Dried food (not pasta)

Washing up liquid

Fresh food and veg

If families would like to donate to this local worthy cause, please can children bring items in on Tuesday 11th October. Many thanks for your continued support.

Following feedback from the parent survey we have organised the following:

• Online meetings for parents and carers on Wednesday 19th October
• Face to face meetings in school on Thursday October 20th October

Next week you will receive a text/email inviting you to book an appointment for either the Wednesday (online appointments only) or the Thursday (face to face appointments only). All appointments are 10 minutes in length and will focus on how pupils are settling into their new year. The systems will send the link for the online video calls on the day of the consultation.

On Monday 17th October or Tuesday 18th October, parents and carers are invited to come into classes at the end of the school day (from 3.10pm/3.15pm) with their child to look at the work that they have been doing. Parents only need to come on one of the sessions.

Many thanks for your continued support.

In July 2022 the school was assessed for the Inclusion School Award.This week we were delighted to receive our plaque to mark our achievement. As part of the process a report is provided for the school outlining key strengths and also areas for development. Some of the quotes of the report have been included on our inclusion and support page on our school website:

https://riponcathedralschool.org.uk/Inclusion-05102022211051/

Parents and carers may wish to contact someone at school to discuss any concerns and issues or for support and advice.

Class Teachers

If you have any concerns, want to ask about anything, or need to share information, we do ask that parents speak to their child's class teacher in the first instance.

You can often speak to teachers at the end of the day, make an appointment via the school office or email them using the address that is provided to parents on weekly update letters.

Mrs Spencer

Mrs Spencer is our dedicated SENDco and Inclusion and Well-Being Lead. She works on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. You can contact Mrs Spencer by calling the school or by email: cspencer@riponcathedral.n-yorks.sch.uk

Well done to our Stars of the Week.

Nursery

Ella for being super independent with her learning.

Reception

Jonah for challenging himself in the classroom and smart sitting at carpet time. You have worked really hard this week Jonah, well done.

Year 1

Lily for her fabulous effort in writing.

Year 2

Skylar for her passion in our Spanish lessons and always giving her all. Her confidence is shining through as she contributes more and more in every lesson.

Year 3

Fabian for having a fantastic attitude on our school trip, taking risks and working well with his team.

Year 4

Holly for being a fantastic role model at Bewerley Park (and in school). Holly supported, encouraged and challenged her peers.

Year 5

Igor for his consistent focus and effort in class. Igor is always ready to learn and aspires to achieve his best.

Year 6

Oliver for making a huge effort with his handwriting and beginning to apply his skills and is increasingly accurate in mathematics

On Monday 17th October after drop off, all parents are welcome to join our first 'meet and greet' coffee morning in the school hall. This is your opportunity to have a chat with key members of our school community. Some school governors will be there, along with Mrs Spencer our Special Educational Needs Lead and members of the Cathedral staff. We would be delighted to welcome as many parents as possible but new parents might be particularly interested in the opportunity to meet more members of the Cathedral School Family.

This week we had reflection sessions in the chapel focused on our value of hope. The children enjoyed thinking about their worries and hope the future. They even wrote hope prayers and thoughts in a Tardis!

This week Year 1 have been busy making fruit kebabs. First, we tried a range of different fruits, using our senses to describe how they tasted, felt and looked. After tasting the different fruits, we got to work on a product design, thinking about the fruits we enjoyed. Designs made we used a claw grip to slice the fruits we had chosen and skewered them on our kebab, getting to enjoy our kebabs as a healthy snack after!

Monday 10th October - Tempest Individual and Family Photographs

Tuesday 11th October - Harvest Festival at 10.30am in the Cathedral

Wednesday 12th October - Year 2 visit Ripon Fire Station

Wed 12th - Fri 14th October - Scholastic Book Fair

Monday 17th October - Meet and Greet 9am (details above)

Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th October 3.10pm - 4.00pm - After School Book Look

Wednesday 19th October - Nursery, Reception and Year 1 visit Piglets' Farm

Wednesday 19th October - Parent Consultations

Thursday 20th October - Parent Consultations

Friday 21st October - Staff training day; half term break begins

Monday 31st October - School opens

Ripon Cathedral Church of England Primary School

Email: admin@riponcathedral.n-yorks.sch.uk
Website: www.riponcathedralschool.org.uk
Location: HG41LT, United Kingdom
Phone: 01765 602355
Facebook: facebook.com/riponcathschool
Twitter: @riponcathschool