Reading School

Wishing you a Merry Christmas 2022.

We express our sincere thanks and appreciation to all our staff, students, parents, governors, Old Redingensians and avid supporters who should take great pride in the impact they have made on Reading School through supporting the school and our community in a myriad of ways. We are grateful for all that you bring to our community.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish the Reading School community a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Ukrainian families celebrate 'bittersweet' first Christmas in UK | ITV News

Reading School had a visit from St Nicholas or Sviatyij Mykolai, during a celebration that saw local Ukrainian families come and celebrate a night often called "Magic Night" and which is seen as a universal children's festival.

Ukrainian families celebrate 'bittersweet' first Christmas in UK | ITV News Parents told ITV News they're happy to be safe but miss celebrating Christmas with their families at home. | ITV News Meridian

Thank you to representatives of our Ukrainian parent community for sharing a wonderful framed gift with the school and presented to our Headmaster and students.
We have worked with a number of organisations, the local community, families and our own staff in providing uninterrupted access to a high quality education and co-curricular activities, in a safe supportive environment alongside our own students.

Well done to the Year 7 football team as their national cup run comes to an end, this week, losing 3-1 to a strong Hampton side.

An exceptional group of players demonstrating resilience and commitment and are looking forward to the football term commencing. ⚽️ 🥅

Thanks to Mr A Robertson for coaching and refereeing in the freezing cold.

An impressive 150 Year 9 students completed their expedition this week. Getting dropped off in the Chilterns and navigating their way back to Reading with a map and compass!

Despite the chill, the boys were in good spirits.

This challenge helps improve self-esteem and build confidence, whilst gaining essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working, communication and drive.

Huge thanks to Mr D Tridgell and Mr T Evans for organising the challenge.

Great basketball Games lesson with Year 9 at South Reading Leisure Centre.

Particularly impressive performances from these “most valuable players”.

The 1stXI travel to Cheltenham Town Football Club to watch the match v Chelsea U21.

A cold night but great team bonding and great hospitality and awarding the Man of the Match award.

Thank you and Mr S Allen, Head of PE for arranging.

An evening of Nine Lessons & Carols at Reading School Chapel, where parents, students, staff, alumni and Governor's came together for an evening of carols. The service was led by Revd Dr C Evans and the Choirs directed by Mr O Griffin, Mr J Newman and Mr J Druce.

Our retiring collection raised £340 to support the Berkshire Community Foundation who are managing an immediate impact fund in support of displaced Ukrainian families. We want to share our heartfelt thanks for your support and the continued support from many of our Redingensians Community who have given, since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

We wish our community and beyond a Merry Christmas this coming holiday season.

If you were unable to attend the Carol Service but would like to offer your support please click the link below: https://berkshirecommunityfoundation.enthuse.com/cf/supporting-ukraine

We look forward to welcoming our school community to this evening's Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols. Our choir has been busy rehearsing under the direction of Mr O Griffin and tonight's retiring collection will be sent to Berkshire Community Foundation who are managing an immediate impact fund in support of displaced Ukrainian families.

Reading School would like to congratulate all students, staff, parents and stakeholders of all schools featured in The Times and The Sunday Times Parent Power 2023 – a guide to the best national and regional schools of the year.

It has been a challenging two years for many, and we want to highlight and share our gratitude to all children and young people, staff and parents, who have excelled and supported one another in order to flourish. As we approach 2023 and the post-pandemic era, we are prioritising a sense of wellbeing for all children and young people as they navigate the world around them and develop into well rounded young people.

We are a school that is in the business of creating opportunities and dreams through supporting children to be the best versions of themselves. We shape positive future stories through social inclusion, while continuing to emphasise academic excellence and prioritising belonging and community.

Remaining committed to our values has contributed to Reading School winning The Sunday Times Parent Power Southeast State Secondary School of the Year Award 2023, while taking 12th place in this year’s national league table of state secondary schools. Our whole school community should feel humbled and grateful for our collective and continued success.

Following on from our post this week which announced the refurbishment of our Physics laboratories made possible by The Wolfson Foundation, local primary school children, who are a part of Reading School’s social mobility programme Future Stories, got to benefit from the new facilities this week in sessions led by Head of Physics, Mr P Stromdale and our Sixth Form volunteers.

As of December 2022, Reading School has partnerships with 8 local Primary Schools, in order to deliver our Future Stories programme. We continue to raise hope and aspirations for children living in the local area and should you wish to support or find out more about Future Stories, please contact Assistant Head, Mr T Evans by emailing [email protected]

In November, we were asked to support Reading Family Aid, a local charity helping disadvantaged children living in poverty. Reading Family Aid’s Christmas Toy Appeal is a key annual event and this year was more important to them than ever due to the current cost-of-living crisis.

By partnering with the charity, Reading School answered the call with parents and students donating pre-loved and new toys that would suit teenage boys – a category the charity sometimes struggles to collect for.

This week, Mrs A Taylor from Reading Family Aid came in to pick up the donated goods which will be prepared and wrapped in order to be collected by social workers, health visitors and other professionals in order to deliver to families inneed and so that children have a present to open this Christmas Day 2022.

During her visit to school this week, Mrs Taylor shared, “Reading Family Aid has been helping local children living in poverty and with other disadvantages for over 40 years. Its Christmas Toy Appeal will distribute presents to nearly 3,000 children in the Reading area this month - kids and teens who would other wise receive nothing this Christmas. Both myself, my colleague Anna Waite and the charity are so grateful to the Reading School community for supporting this and helping a child to feel seen and thought of this Christmas.”

Our partnership with The Abbey School, led by Sixth Form Pastoral Lead for Reading School, Ms A Stratford and Director of Sixth Form Operations at The Abbey School, Ms Claire MacVicar, is flourishing. This week saw visits from sixth formers to each other’s schools for joint PSHE sessions. On the agenda for group discussions was climate action at COP27, issues surrounding the World Cup, NHS strikes and media surveillance in pop culture.
Thank you to the team at The Abbey School for making our students and staff feel welcome.

The refurbishment of our school's Physics labs, made possible by Wolfson Foundation is complete and students have spaces that will provide a world class physics education. Thank you to all at The Wolfson Foundation.

It's coming up to that time of the year and this is the second year running that the Reading School Parents Association has run the Teacher’s Amazon Wishlist. All Departments and wider areas such as student support, the LRC, Sixth Form and Boarding are invited to participate.

It is incredibly well received by the parent community who are keen to give back to the Departments who do so much for our children.

The Wishlist runs for approximately 3 weeks and any items which are not purchased during this time are bought by the RSPA to ensure that everyone gets everything they asked for.

It is mildly hectic in points for the organisers, however, nothing beats the smiles on teacher’s faces when they receive their parcels.

Day 3 and final update of the Year 9 trip to Munich saw our students head to the home of Bayern Munich FC, the Allianz Arena.
Trips like these cannot happen without the support of our staff and we would like to thank Frau Majorossy-Young, Mrs A Head, Mr B Owen and Mrs P Hickman.

Day 2 update of the Year 9 trip to Munich saw our students heading to BMW World Munich followed by an unlimited pizza buffet!

An update from Frau Majorossy-Young during the Year 9 Trip to Munich, Germany:
"Having been enchanted by the twinkling lights of the Christmas markets on Marienplatz last night, we returned to the hotel to enjoy a visit from OR Charlie Harding. After completing his A levels in German, Maths, Further Maths and Computer Science, Charlie went onto complete a degree in Computer Science. He is now working as a Software Engineer for BMW and based in Munich. Our Year 9s loved quizzing Charlie about life in Munich."
We're looking forward to our Trip Leaders updates soon.

Congratulations to Hal in Year 12 (left in picture) who was selected to represent England at the Home Countries Indoor Pentathlon International in Glasgow.

He competed in long jump, shot, 800m, 200m and 60m hurdles.
He helped England win the gold medal beating Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 🏃🥇👏🏼

Well done to our Indoor Curling 🥌 team who competed at JMA this week, the first time representing Reading School. An amazing group of students and thanks to Sr Sanchez for taking the team!

The 1st XV finished the season in style to secure third place in the league. Huge credit to the squad along with coaches Kearle and Tett as the game demonstrated how much progress has been made after losing to the same opponents at the start of the year. Special thanks to Year 13.

U13, U16 and U19 table tennis teams all qualify for the next round of the national competition after the Reading district event yesterday. Well done to all our players and coach Sr Sanchez for such a successful day!

🏓

Our senior basketball team go from strength to strength with back to back wins. Two great games this week with Hugh Farringdon and Maiden Erlegh. Tough matches with lots of defensive intensity and coach Pedlow really pleased with the progress! 🏀

We're wishing our students and staff a safe and festive trip to visit Munich's Christmas Market, which dates back to the 14th Century.
Our Teacher of German, Mrs H Majorossy shared, "The first of December saw the long-awaited visit to Munich and the Christmas Markets depart under the guidance of Frau Majorossy-Young, Miss Head, Mrs Hickman and Mr Owen. Full of excitement we boarded our flight and received our first compliments on this busy flight for the polite and considerate manner of our lovely Reading School boys. So proud!"
Watch out for more updates soon.

This half-term marks the end of our Year of Reading and the transition into a 2023 Year of Writing, focusing on writing skills across disciplines. As part of this focus on key literacy skills, we are also going to be shining a spotlight on oracy and its important role in improving student literacy.

To this end, we held “No Pen Day Wednesday” today – the oracy equivalent of “Drop Everything and Read”. Teachers were invited to identify a period where they would focus on reading and oracy, and where students would not pick up a pen or do any written work.

Across the school, teachers led a variety of activities in a huge range of disciplines - from debates in computer science to individual reflections in art. One student remarked that they loved having the opportunity to be able to consider and discuss the wider issues in their subjects, and to get the chance to have conversations with their peers and teachers, which led them to see their subject in new ways.

Many thanks to all teachers and students for participating in our first No Pen Day Wednesday!

Philanthropy is about generosity and we want to say a heartfelt thank you to all our supporters, who give gifts of time, talent, and treasure making a transformational impact in supporting Reading School students and our community.

You are instrumental in making a difference to the opportunities we can offer. Thank you to our Governors, Reading Foundation, RSPAReading, the Old Redingensians Association and our dedicated staff and committed students.

We're delighted to be working in partnership with Design Nature CIC in order to inspire and empower the next generation of young minds in sustainable design, creativity and entrepreneurship.

Over this coming week, all our Year 8s will have the opportunity to consider sustainability and imagine what a renewable future looks like.

Catherine Haines, Reading School parent and Engagement Manager, working for charity Mary's Meals, would like to thank the Reading School community for their generosity. As of today, we have smashed the £3,000 target, raising a tremendous £3,268.

The amount will be doubled by a generous group of supporters to £6,536 and is enough to feed 411 children at school for a whole year, which will contribute to changing lives and making a real difference.

If you haven’t had a chance to donate yet, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/reading-school3
We thank you again for helping Mary’s Meals reach the next hungry child.

Thank you to all students and parents who have contributed to our school's non-uniform day in aid of Mary's Meals. Those that were in a position to do so, donated generously above the suggested £2 donation which has allowed us to nearly reach our target already.
For more information about Mary's Meals and the impact your donations will make to children, please read this week's Headmaster's Bulletin.

Non-Uniform Day for Mary’s Meals- Friday 25th November 2022

The Charity Committee, would like to build on the success of their community outreach and are supporting Mary’s Meals. Reading School is holding a non-uniform day on Friday 25th November 2022, the launch of supporting Mary’s Meals: https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/

Mary’s Meals serves nutritious school meals to children living in some of the world’s poorest countries. The promise of a good meal attracts these hungry children into the classroom, giving them the energy to learn and hope for a better future. Mary’s Meals started feeding 200 children in Malawi in 2002 and now twenty years on, is feeding more than 2 million children every school day. To learn more about the work of Mary’s Meals, please visit www.marysmeals.org.uk or watch the beautiful ½ hour video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSrw2fL1fOU

As the world faces a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions brought about by conflict, climate change and Covid19, please give what you can to. It costs just £15.90 to feed a child for a whole year and so by raising £3000 this academic year, we could feed 188 children for a whole year. Any donations received up to 31 January 2023 will be doubled (up to £1.5m) by a generous group of generous supporters.

Please help us reach the next hungry child waiting for Mary’s Meals by making a minimum suggested donation of £2.00 per student. To make donation, please click here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/reading-school3

Please include your son’s full name and form group in the notes section when submitting a donation, so we can verify donations against students participating.

We thank you for your support.

Take a bow East House, the unanimous winners of Reading School House Music Competition 2022 at Reading Arts.
Thank you to our students, their families, our staff, guest judges and The Hexagon Team for making this annual event such a success and it proved to be a fitting ‘Hymn for the Weekend’.
Events like these cannot happen without your dedication and support and we are thankful.

has arrived at the with rehearsals taking place this morning, brilliantly led by the House Captains.
Don't forget to bring £5.00 cash only for the programmes with House pages designed by our students.

It’s always our pleasure to welcome Dr Phil Cummins from a School for Tomorrow, to Reading School. He brings warmth, wit and wisdom when speaking with staff and students alike about character, values and purpose.
We look forward to sharing the results of our work with our whole school community very soon.

The Great Debate is a public speaking competition, run by The Historical Association where students were given 5 mins to present a speech on, 'Why does history matter to me?'

Students had to demonstrate research as well as historical arguments and encouragement was given to explore their own family histories, their local areas or to concentrate on a key historical event.

Well done to Oscar S T and Milan G who represented Reading School and supported by Teachers of History, Ms Stratford and Mr Whitehorn.

“You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down.”
- Charlie Chaplin

CCF Biennial Inspection - an update.

The Combined Cadet Force has now received its inspection report following the visit of Brigadier Nev Holmes on 20 October 2022. The CCF has received an excellent report and has fully met all annual assurance requirements as set by the Ministry of Defence.

The report also made the following observations:
"Reading School combines with Kendrick School to form a vibrant, popular and evidently successful CCF. The ability within the CCF to develop leadership, promote responsibility, self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance and a sense of service to the community are well understood and valued by the school’s senior management team. This is clearly a strong CCF Contingent, that has the full support of the SLT from both schools, with dedicated and capable CFAVs delivering a quality Cadet Experience. It is particularly pleasing to see the evident role senior cadets are playing in delivering that experience, from which all cadets are deriving obvious benefit. The interaction between senior cadets leading the patrolling lesson we observed and those participating was remarkable, with a high level of interest shown and some insightful questions and well-considered answers. Reading School CCF is well respected, well supported and extremely effective. In sum, a very positive visit with extremely positive impressions. I would like to personally thank the contingent staff, school leadership teams and, above all, the cadets themselves for allowing me to spend some time with them – it was hugely inspiring, interesting and enjoyable."

The inspection day followed weeks of planning and preparation by the Cadet Force Adult Volunteers and Senior Cadets. Our Contingent Commander Lt Col John Flexman was particularly pleased with the report.

"It is a very strong achievement not just to grow the number of pupils from each school engaged in the Cadet experience as we have, but to do that in a sustainable and positive way that maximises leadership development for Senior Cadets. This report is very pleasing and I thank our CFAVs and Senior Cadets, not just from this year, but successive previous years for the contributions they have made to put us where we are today. There is always room for innovation and improvements in any organisation. Nevertheless, this report, from one of the most senior officers in the National Army Cadet organisation is hard earned and those involved deserve considerable credit for their hard work, dedication and service to others."