From the Deputy Head
| The power of words My cousin and I grew up together. We spent pretty much every weekend and most afternoons with each other. Curiously, the Serbian word for cousin is the same as the word for sibling and so it was that she was, and always has been in my heart, pretty much, my sister. As a child I always perceived that because I was older I must definitely be more mature – she is after all 9 months younger than me; always has been, always will be. In the land of a 7 year old this is a vital difference, particularly when it spans across an academic year and means that as the “older” one you are always one school year ahead. It didn’t take too long however for her to question this seemingly indisputable, immovable setup, and I at 7 was not willing to give up my ground and my perceived authority on all matters that 7 year olds feel that they have an absolute understanding of. Memories of this time fill my heart with such joy (although I do cringe at the thought of how obnoxious I must have been at times). To this day my cousin and I, even though we do not see or speak to each other anywhere near as often as we would like or we should, love and admire each other beyond all measure. She is an incredible academic working in the field of women’s rights and displaced peoples and her interviews in newspapers and on TV are always well thought out and intelligently argued. One thing that we shared, and which shapes so many of our childhood memories, is the music of a singer who tragically passed away earlier this year. His songs not only spoke to us as teenagers whilst we worked out how we felt about ourselves and about the world we lived in, but they spoke to a generation of people who lived and grew up in the Balkans. His name was Djordje Balasevic and his passing was mourned on a national and international level. Vigils were held in major cities across the whole of ex Yugoslavia (he started his singing career when this was one country and his songs spoke to each and every one of us about the sadness and disappointment of all that had been lost in the conflicts that ensued during the 1990s). In fact, not only were his words powerful enough to move a whole generation, no matter which side of the border they were on (because they spoke of love and humanity which binds us, and not the political views which divided us) but they were so powerful as to have been posthumously determined as important enough to form part of the “lektira” required text that all children in Serbia should read and analyse in order to understand the cultural and historical context in which they are growing up. The thing about Balasevic’s songs is that his words have an incredible power to evoke emotion. He was, at the very core, a poet, and his words have stayed with me and evolved in terms of their meaning and depth as the years have passed and I have moved from childhood to adulthood and to having my own children. Words, written or spoken have an incredible power. Admittedly, this is not a very profound statement given that human communication is unique for its use of language. However, the understanding of the power that words can have is something that has been very much at the forefront of my mind recently and something that at Rossall we ensure all pupils are aware of. With this gift of language and the power of speech comes significant responsibility to communicate, celebrate and protect the values of a community that is welcoming, warm and inclusive. There is no better example of that than the presentations given in assemblies this week by our new School Captains, Sam and Mary and our Deputy School Captains, Tineka and Myles. Their desire to cherish, nurture and make a positive difference was palpable in everything that they said. Their positivity and their warmth shone through their eloquence and what they said and how they said it was an endorsement of all of the values that the school holds dear. They have great ambitions for their roles and we are exceptionally excited to see how they, along with our superb monitor team, will contribute to the life of the school over the coming year. Dina Porovic Deputy Head |
Message from the Junior Headmaster
| As the half term draws to a close, we can look back on a truly fabulous seven weeks for the pupils, in the main because it was ‘normal’. Never has normal been so celebrated. The children have returned to the dining room, swam, sang, star-gazed, competed in sports, dug for dinosaur bones, baked in the kitchen, cleaned the beach, performed on stage… perhaps the Rossall normal is not so normal after all! Whatever their exploits, they have enjoyed their learning experiences and have been exceptionally happy! There are countless times I have heard that your school days are the happiest ones of your life. Looking at the Prep pupils I would definitely concur with this sentiment. The state of ‘being happy’ is one the majority of us aspire to achieve. Whether it be a life goal or a daily routine, participating in an activity that we enjoy releases endorphins – the ‘happy hormones’. These are exceptionally important given that we are hard-wired to focus on negative experiences. Happy children will always tell you all about their experiences so when you ask your son or daughter what they have done at school today, I would like to think you may get a smile and more than a one word answer! From our Year 6 exhibitions to Year 5 exploits in saving our environment, Year 4’s rainforest information posters to Spanish games in Year 3, Year 2’s natural world self portraits to Year 1 designing treasure maps using directions, and finally Reception writing full sentences for their stories, this really has been an incredibly busy week and indeed end to the half term.  A special mention must go to two of our Prep pupils this week, who took part in the Junior Maths Challenge. Aimed at Year 7 and 8 pupils, Oskar (Y4) and Vivian (Y5) participated and were awarded a Bronze certificate each; a quite incredible achievement given their ages. Congratulations to both of you. Here is an example of one of the ‘easy’ questions…  The performance of Annie that was acted out by our talented Year 5 and 6 pupils over the course of a rather hectic 48 hours, was fantastic to watch. The joy with which the pupils participated was brilliant to see and I was unsurprised to see one or two tired faces on Monday morning! Well done to all of the children and my thanks to all the staff for their incredible efforts to put on the show and provide the children with such an invaluable experience.  Have a relaxing and well-deserved half-term break. Mr Turner Headmaster of Rossall Nursery and Preparatory School |
| NURSERY, PRE-PREP & PREP SCHOOL NEWS Please click here for this week’s Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School Newsletter. |
| U13 VS AKS – LANCASHIRE CUP On Wednesday, the Rossall U13 Boys’ Cricket Team faced AKS in the second round of the Lancashire Cup. AKS won the toss and elected to bat first. Early wickets from George removed both of the AKS openers and then Tom and Liam bowled well, taking two and four wickets respectively. AKS were bowled out for 25 runs. Rossall chased down the AKS score for the loss of 1 wicket and move onto the next round of the Lancashire Cup. Well done, boys! |
| NEW CAPTAINS AND MONITORS The new school captains and monitors for 2021/2022 are: School Captain: Mary Melsheimer and Sam Ayoma Deputy School Captain: Tineka Jennings and Myles Davies Senior Monitors: Emily Yang, Millie Ellis, Milica Cetkovic, Georgia Oldham, Tess Young, Isabella Wright, Elias Fink, Shawn Richardson, Mihir Manglani, John Cooper, Piotr Dissel, Harry Platt and Bailey Scarborough |
| ROSSALL PREP SCHOOL PRESENTS ‘ANNIE’ IN 48 HOURS At 4pm on Friday, the eager cast of Year 5 and 6 pupils descended on Museum theatre to get to work on their ambitious challenge of putting on a production of Annie in just 48 hours. To read the full story, please click here. |
| ROSSALL SCHOOL TO INTRODUCE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT SCREENING INITIATIVE WITH FMS UK We are delighted to announce that we will be partnering with Functional Movement Systems FMS UK to introduce a revolutionary system of movement screening and physical wellbeing for our pupils. To read the full story, please click here. |
| DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD UPDATE Congratulations to the following students who have completed their onsite Bronze Expedition and the full Bronze Award. Certificates and badges will be presented on Prize Day. YEAR 10 Daniel C, Georgina B, Emerson P, Lola R, Chelsea B, Josie K and Eleanor H YEAR 9 Kay B, Harriet B, Jack D, Hallas E, Hallie G, Grace G, Scarlett K, Rosie L, Regan M, Ruby R, Jett R, Mia S, Jemma T, Natasha M, Jessica S, Tabitha D, Joel B, Daniel J, Phelix K, Daniel L, Elijah W, Santiago F and Chloe S Major Magowan commented on the students’ efforts and said, “On a personal note, it’s been a pleasure to work with the students to get them through their sections and the expedition. I’ve gotten to know the sometimes complex and difficult world of teenagers, which is a very different beast from the equally challenging experience of working with young soldiers. The participants should be very proud to complete the award in light of the difficulties presented to them over the last year.” – Major Lee Magowan Major Magowan has also provided an update regarding the introduction of the Silver Award which you can read here. |
| TENNIS TOURNAMENT WINNER Year 7 student, Bryson plays Tennis for Norbreck Tennis Club and on Wednesday evening he played in a tournament. He won two singles matches and won one and lost one doubles match, making him the overall winner. Well done, Bryson!  |
| OPEN MIC NIGHT ‘We were delighted to be able to round off this half term with our first live, in-person Open Mic night for a very long time. It was a powerful reminder of the diverse talents of our students and the joy of live performance. The evening was masterfully compèred by Lennon Calderley, with his customary deadpan delivery. We had opera from Mary Morcos, drama from James Wood, and dance from Neve Turner and Mia Shaw. Myles Davies performed Harry Styles, Harry Platt sang his self-penned ‘Trust Me’, and Cait Knight sang Adele’s ‘When We Were Young’, accompanied by her younger brother Oscar. Mary Melsheimer brought the show to a close with some beautiful flute playing. You can watch some highlights here: When We Were Young Trust Me L’ho Perduta Falling Mary Melsheimer James Wood Macavity |
| COMING SOON – ROAD TO TOKYO 2020 We will be following Old Rossallian, Josh Landmann in his quest to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We are wishing him the very best of luck! |
| MR SHARPE’S MATHS CHALLENGE LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE Kai’s Line Marker Rampage One day, Kai was wandering the grounds of Rossall School when he looked to the field and saw there was a line marker left out (for marking the lines on a football pitch of course). He knew it was a bad idea but he just couldn’t help himself as he ran to the line marker and started pushing it swiftly around the field. What he marked on the field can be seen below.  Kai had drawn a square, side length 1 Kai-lometer (a unit of measure he made up on the spot!). The square was divided internally into 4 rectangles of equal area. What fraction of a Kai-lometer is the length marked x? Numbers have been getting a little low on puzzle entries recently but people do tell me they do the puzzle, just that they don’t necessarily send me their solutions. Kai is quickly heading for the title of most Maths Puzzle wins. Won’t somebody try and stop him?! ANSWER: (CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW) |
| Things are hotting up in the exciting world of the Puzzle of the Week with 5 correct solutions this week, and the winning answer coming from a different Ky! Remember that the competition is open to all. The Math’s staff this week join me in congratulating Mr Ky Hutchinson from the Science Department who correctly solved the problem with the help of his 2 children, who we will call Little Ky and Ky Junior. So here is this week’s puzzle! Battle of the Kai/Ky’s! Always dreaming of being the number one Ky/Kai, Mr Hutchinson saw Kai Wagner’s line marker masterpiece as a challenge! So the next day after much research and revision of line marker technique, Mr H took to the field and marked out the following.  The large square below consists of 4 congruent rectangles surrounding a central square, area 44 square Ky-lometers (a different unit of measure to a Kai-lometer). The question is this: What is the area of one of the rectangles? As always the first correct response will become the subject of the next puzzle. Remember to send your answer to: [email protected] |
| CALLING ALL GOLFERS ROSSALLIAN GOLF SOCIETY Autumn Meeting at Ganton Golf Club, North Yorkshire on 28th September 2021 Light lunch from 11.00am, 18 holes Stableford Competition from 12.00 Noon, followed by dinner. £135.00 per player. Please apply to Arthur Stephenson (Hon Sec Rossall Golf Society). [email protected] |
| To view all of our sports fixtures and results, please visit: https://www.rossallsport.org.uk/ The password to view the teamsheets is: rossallsport |
| IT’S BACK! Rossall’s very own Film Festival returns for a SECOND YEAR! The TWO-MINUTE FILM FESTIVAL is open to ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE – all you need to do is create a film that runs for 120 seconds or less! You can find out everything you need to know (including last year’s entries and ROSSCARS!) from this year’s site: https://sites.google.com/rossall.org.uk/tmff2021 Closing date for submissions: Sunday 4th July ROSSCARS Awards Ceremony: Wednesday 7th July |
