Vaccinations UK are offering free flu vaccines for school aged children in Dudley areas in January 2024. For dates or to find out more information, please consult the leaflet.
Discounted Spring Term Train Tickets are now available to buy! With this offer students can save up to 50% off their travel.
Detailed information is available online: Termly Student Discount Train Tickets | Train Ticket Types (westmidlandsrailway.co.uk)
For any questions, feel free to contact Sophie.Gardner@wmtrains.co.uk
Thirty Year 7 & 8 students attended the Matt Lucas author event, held at the Earls High School , Halesowen on Wednesday 15th November. Matt was incredibly funny, sharing many anecdotes from his childhood and his glittering career in TV shows such as The Great British Bake Off, Films such as Paddington and Gnomeo & Juliet, musical theatre where he played an integral role in Les Miserables, and now as an accomplished children's writer.
His latest book called 'The Boy who slept through Christmas' is a musical novel and includes twenty original songs written by Matt. Readers can sing along using the QR Codes scattered throughout the book. The story is about a boy called Leo who loves Christmas! But this year is a little different, as his family have suffered a tragedy... 'This year would be the first Christmas without someone rather special. Leo's lovely mum had been ill for a while and, a few months ago, she had died. In his sadness, Leo had briefly pondered if Christmas might be virtually impossible this year (or indeed, any year) without Mum, but then he remembered how she had made him promise to have the best time possible, always, even if she wasn't there. So, Christmas would be going ahead and - more than that - Leo resolved that, in tribute to his Mum, this would quite simply be the best Christmas ever.'
As always, RHS students were exemplary whilst there. They were involved in asking questions during the Q&A session, sang along with the Earls choir to 'There is no day quite like Christmas Day' and made-up lyrics to 'Jingle Bells' with Matt, using rhyming words such as neigh, cafe, ballet, hairspray. RHS wish Matt Lucas every success with his Christmas story and look forward to other author events in the future.
Key Stage 3 Pupils from Ridgewood High School got their hands on rare samples of moon rocks and meteorites week beginning 13th November during a series of Maths and Science lessons which were truly out of this world.
Students were encouraged to reach for the stars and learn more about the Universe around us during a week-long interactive experience of astronomy. Students from Amblecote Primary, The Ridge Primary, and St James’ Primary also joined us for part of the week to engage with the experience!
Youngsters were given the unique opportunity to actually touch a piece of space rock not of this Earth as they were allowed to handle some genuine meteorites.
These rare samples were provided free of charge by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which provides educational packs in a bid to inspire young people to get involved in science and complement classroom studies.
The pack provided by STFC includes a 1.2 billion-year-old piece of Mars rock and a 4.3 billion-year-old nickel meteorite. It is unlikely that students will ever get the chance to hold an object older than this, as Earth itself was formed 4.6 billion years ago.
The packs have been recently updated to also include a new meteorite hunter’s kit, new teacher planning pack and exciting new web-based resources and online support videos for all age groups, primary to secondary.
The lunar samples were collected in the late 1960s and early 1970s during some of NASA’s first manned space missions to the Moon. During these missions, a staggering 382kg of material was brought back to Earth – mostly for use by scientists, but small quantities are used to develop educational packs like this one.
Samples like these can tell us a great deal about the planets, from which they originate, but there is still much to learn – and STFC hopes these packs will encourage students to become the next generation of astronomers.
STFC’s Executive Chair, Professor Mark Thomson, said: “We are thrilled to be able to offer this unique opportunity to young people. It is not often they will be able to see close-up, and actually touch, such important fragments of science history. Samples like these are vital in teaching us more about our solar system, allowing us to confront theory with fact. We hope this experience will encourage the students to take up a career in science.” STFC is the only authorised source to loan lunar samples to educational and scientific organisations in the UK.
Reminder that tonight is our Summer 23 Leavers GCSE certificate collection!
Please come to the library between 4-6 pm to collect your certificates; please note we are unable to release certificates to anyone other than the student, unless we have received the student's prior written authorisation.
Please keep your certificates safe - they are important documents! If you lose your certificates, the awarding bodies will charge you a fee to issue any replacements.
Please note that any uncollected certificates will be retained at school for a maximum of 5 years, after which they will be securely disposed of.
Over the past fortnight, students in Years 8 and 9, as well as those from the Year 10 Computer Science group, have joined over 400,000 students from around the country in competing in this year's Bebras Computing Challenge. Certificates will be awarded to students who achieved in the top 50% in the school, with students who scored in the top 10% nationally going forward to the next round. A huge well done to all that took part.
Join us in wishing the best of luck to student Ebony Bates in Year 9 who is attending the local finals for FutureChef in Worcester on Monday with Mrs Lawrence! You're going to smash this Ebony, everyone at Ridgewood is rooting for you!
There is a new criteria for visiting Cost of Living Support Hubs. From the week beginning 20th November, households can attend our Hubs a further 3 times. The attendance history has been wiped, it doesn’t matter if households have attended before. However, please remember there must be at least 12 days between each new appointment. The adjustment considers the financial pressures associated with the winter season.
Year 7 & 8 RHS students are invited to attend the Matt Lucas author event at the Earl’s High School, Halesowen on 15th November. This includes a signed copy of his book! Limited tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. ParentPay opens at 4pm tomorrow!
Friends of Ridgewood AGM is on the 16th November, 6-8pm in the school library.