F1 in Schools
Pupils of Ribblesdale school have again this year entered the F1 in schools challenge. As part of this challenge pupils have to raise funds by various means and have lately held cake days which have been very successful. They have also had to make presentations to local and international industries to gain not just financial support but also, expertise to help develop and manufacture the designs that the pupils have created. They are working steadily in their bid to prepare the final F1 car in an effort to win the regional finals being held in February 2011.
Success for the Cheerleaders at Winter Gardens
Ribblesdale High School Cheerleaders have had an outstanding first year and have achieved success beyond all expectation. They have recently taken part in their second national level competition held at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens where 32 members had more difficult dances to learn from their last event at Blackpool Tower.
Complete with a brand new kit, pupils danced in a knock-out competition for their particular age category against dance schools from all over the north of England and 8 pupils reached the semi-finals with 5 going on to be placed in the finals. Lola McEvoy and Chynna Green were semi-finalists in the 12 and over Dance 1 and Sophie Hodkinson reached the semis in the age 11 Dance 2. In only her second ever dance competition, Lola stated “It was a totally AMAZING experience for us. We all did pretty well and most of us got through to the 2nd or 3rd round at least. It’s given us confidence and we can’t wait for the next competition!”
In the older age categories, pupil’s performances were absolutely outstanding throughout the intermediate dances. In the age 15 Dance 2 section, Alix Carey was placed 1st, Emma Duffy 2nd and Gabby Parkinson 4th, and in the age 16 and over Dance 2, Lucy Wilson came 1st and Chloe Hindle was placed 3rd.
Teacher, Dawn Robinson is incredibly proud of all the girls who took part and stated that “It’s really difficult getting up in front of hundreds of people at a large venue like the Winter Gardens and dancing in front of others, many of whom are much more experienced and are used to dancing competitively. For pupils to achieve the success they have so quickly, highlights the positive approach they have to learning the dances and the hard work they have to put in to practising. Not only that, they have had to raise money to enter the competitions and towards coach travel as well. They did this with equal enthusiasm when they took part in a public exhibition outside the United Reform Church in Clitheroe where together with a huge cake sale they raised £400. Pupils would like to thank members of the public for their incredible generosity. The girls will now work towards their 2 next competitions at the beginning of September and then in November where they will be back at Blackpool Tower.”
PGL trip to Boreatton Park Shropshire
This year Ribblesdale took a group of year 8 pupils on a PGL Adventure holiday in June. Pupils spent 4 days of challenges including High ropes, rafting open canoe, zip wire and puzzle challenge courses. It was inevitable that not only did pupils have to overcome balancing on wires 20 feet in the air but also get extremely wet on the river and lakes.
Football Triumphs
The Year 11’s final was an outstanding evening beating St Augustines 2-0. Najeeb Shakoor coming on as sub to score both goals! The team have been an excellent asset to the school and will be sorely missed when they leave. Over the past 5 years they have won 7 out of a possible 10 trophies narrowly missing out on 3! A big thankyou to all the boys and their parents for showing such a great attitude over the years when participating and watching games.
Ross Dent, who has been the captain for 5 years must also be recognised for his outstanding contribution to Ribblesdale sport, the way he has organised and led the team has been exemplary. Thank you from all the PE staff.
The Year 7’s was a very one sided game from an up and coming side, who I am sure will do very well throughout their 5 years at Ribblesdale. They have trained very well and deserved their victory, which was against Rhyddings of Oswaldtwistle. The game finished 5-1 with goals from Callum Darcy (2), Harry Yerkess, Harry Russell and ‘Man of the Match’ Oliver Cruise. The team have also won the league title and finished runners up in the Lancashire cup (out of 72 schools) an outstanding achievement again. Well done boys.
Primary Netball Festival
Ribblesdale hosted a primary netball festival for their family of primary schools.These included Read, Simonstone, Chatburn, St James Clitheroe, Balderstone, Mellor and Salesbury. Over 100 pupils took part and they were supported by staff and many parents. All pupils showed determination ,teamwork, skill and a high level of sportsmanship. Pupils clearly enjoyed taking part in the event with other primary schools. Read were runners up and the winners were Salesbury. All participants received a certificate for their contribution on the day.
The event was organised by Mr Ashworth, Ribblesdale SSCO. Ribblesdale Year 11 sports captains and Year 10 JSLA students acted as officials, recorders and timekeepers and ensured the event ran smoothly.
They were fantastic ambassadors for Ribblesdale School.
STEM Project Formula 1 Challenge
Paul Eastwood’s enthusiasm for the ‘Formula One in Schools’ technology challenge has proved infectious for pupils at a Clitheroe school.
Paul, a senior manufacturing technology engineer at Clitheroe, has been a judge in the technology challenge’s national finals for the past three years and has seen first hand how it has benefited the pupils who have taken part.
As one of the site’s ambassadors for STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), he thought it was a shame that no local school entered the competition. So he approached Ribblesdale School to encourage their interest.
The result is that the school has entered not one but two teams for the regional finals, being held in November – one from Year 9 and another from Year 10.
The challenge involves pupils not only in designing and building gas powered miniature racing cars from balsa wood but also in setting up marketing displays and presentations to gain sponsorship deals with local businesses to finance their entries.
“It’s a great all-round experience for them,” said Paul. “The challenge has been developed by the Formula One organisation to develop an informed view about careers in engineering, science, marketing and technology.
“The judging takes in a wide range of factors and it’s not just down to the fastest car being the winner on the day.
One of the first companies that the pupils turned to for sponsorship was 3M and the young marketing team were invited to make a formal pitch to site manager Shaun Morley. Shaun was so impressed with the presentation that they left with a pledge for £250.
Ribblesdale’s STEM co-ordinator, Mr Crashley, said the pupils were really enthusiastic about the challenge. “We’ve come into the competition quite late this year but the pupils will be building on the knowledge they gain this time to give themselves a good start for 2010.
“The skills they’re learning go across the curriculum of science, maths and design technology. It even takes in textile design, with t-shirts that they’ll be marketing to friends and family to raise more capital funding.”
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