Senior Colours
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Luke Barns collects the Junior Cup for Northgate from Gloucester RFC's Chris Fortey
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Senior Colours
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Luke Barns collects the Junior Cup for Northgate from Gloucester RFC's Chris Fortey
The whole school was left in a state of utter shock by the death of Upper Sixth student Emma Hole.
Emma was killed in a car accident as she drove home on Saturday afternoon.
Emma was extremely popular and well liked by staff and fellow students alike. Her death has deeply saddened the whole school community, especially her friends in the sixth form and her teachers.
The Upper Sixth have been a great support to each other which has helped us to deal with the grief.
Our deepest sympathy goes to Emma's family who have lost a dearly beloved daughter and sister.
This term there have been several Duke of Edinburgh Awards gained by senior students.
The school has its own DofE Unit run by Mr Dempsey with several other members of staff lending their respective talents and skills to assist the award participants, who are drawn from year 10 and upwards.
The school's Explorer Scout Unit also runs the DofE Award Scheme as part of its overall Scouting Training Programme, under the guidance of Mr Lloyd and Mr Brown.
These awards are not easily gained and we should therefore congratulate the following ...
From the school's Duke of Edinburgh Unit
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| Will Savory Bronze |
Kun Hu Bronze |
Ben Walker Bronze |
From the 44th Gloucester (STRS) Explorer Scout Unit
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| Sam Coe Silver |
Chris Gallant Silver |
Adam Lewis Silver |
Rob Hayes Bronze |
Sam Johnson Bronze |
One of the school's recent leavers Adam Griffiths (1993-2000) who was a stalwart member of the 44th Gloucester (STRS) Venture Scout Unit (now Explorer Scout Unit) has recently gained his Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, to go alongside his Queen's Scout Award. So many congratulations to Adam. Incidentally Adam, who is currently studying for his degree at Plymouth University, has also become an Assistant Leader of the unit with Mountain Leadership and Climbing qualifications.
Mr Simon Pickard with the Rich's team of Lawrence Bennett, Peter Butler & Andrew Erskine
The preliminary heats of this year's English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition have been held and the Rich's team have won through to a place in the Gloucestershire area round of the contest, to be held in the Council Chamber at Cheltenham on 3rd February, 2004.
Our team of Year 11 students comprised of Peter Butler (speaker), Lawrence Bennett (chairman), and Andrew Erskine (questioner). Peter spoke on the topic "Big Brother is watching you - how controlled are we?", advancing the thought that if we weren't engaged in criminal activities, we had little to fear from surveillance in public places so Long as that surveillance was legal and subject to the proper controls of a democratic society.
Andrew and Lawrence were assigned to the speaker from Rendcomb School. Lawrence chaired with such assurance that he was awarded the commendation for 'Best Chairman'. Andrew asked a series of challenging questions which showed that he has not lost his ability in this respect, although this year the 'Best Questioner' award (which Andrew won last year) went to a member of another team who showed a terrier-like skill in pursuing questions.
The team is now looking forward to the next stage of the competition, although the opposition there, from such schools as Pate's, Stroud High, Rendcomb, and Cotswold School, is likely to be formidable.
The school competed in the Bazuka Relays held at Millfield School in Somerset. The Junior team consisting Robert Payne, Tom Burlinson, Kit Turner and James Broady, came 4th in both of their relays, being beaten in both the Medley and the Freestyle by Millfield, Kelly College and Devonport High School. Their time of 1min 58.75sec in the Freestyle relay means that they have qualified for the National Finals to be held at Crawley in West Sussex on Saturday 7th February 2004.
The Intermediate team of Tom White, Jack Mullins, John Gaylard and Will Middleton, who were competing against teams a year older, came 5th in the Medlay relay and 6th in the Freestyle. Their time of 2min 5.12sec in the Medlay relay secures for them a reserve place should two of the 12 finalists drop out.
Both teams are to be congratulated for their efforts in this very competitive event.
Sport England has awarded Sir Thomas Rich's School with its top Gold Sportsmark Award. Deserved recognition of Rich's commitment to sporting opportunities and excellence.
More details
The first competition in the inter-house Cock House trophy is House Art. This year the standards were particularly high. The most impressive effort by a form was from 7R whose 3D models were especially good. The best individual piece of work was from Spencer Pugh (7T) whose fir cone dinosaur was awarded the maximum 10 marks.
Our thanks to Mr Lockey who organises the event and marks all the contributions.
Click on picture to see more ....
In their second round match STRS beat Pershore High two goals to one by scoring the "Golden Goal" in extra time. Pershore High proved to be the physically larger and stronger but both sides really did not come to terms properly with the windy conditions and the dry bouncy pitch.
Mark McBride's opener for Rich's was levelled out shortly before half time. In the second half both sides came close to scoring but 1-1 remained the full time score. Into the extra time period, some sustained pressure by Rich's eventually brought their reward as from the edge of the penalty area McBride crashed a poorly cleared ball into the roof of the Pershore net to secure Rich's passage into the next round.
Congratulations to the Upper Sixth French students who spent a week's work experience in Brittany.
The work placements included a primary school (Vicky Selby U6S), a bakery (Adam Gardner U6B), a computer shop (Andrew Godden U6B), a golf course (Jonathan Dickie U6B), a sports shop (Dexter Bradley U6B) and a residential centre for the handicapped (Alan Bills U6B). The group was accompanied by Mr Slinger who reports that our students acquitted themselves well, displaying an impressive level of maturity and linguistic competence.
An early start and a hectic schedule did nothing to subdue the enthusiasm of this resolute bunch!
The Upper Sixth economists set forth to London at an unearthly 7.45am for a morning visit to the Palace of Westminster and a meeting with local MP Parmjit Dhanda. In the afternoon we were scheduled to meet Ida Reeve, an economist at the Bank of England.
Following an enlightening tour of the Lords and the Commons, we climbed up into the upper reaches of the Palace where we enjoyed an audience with our MP in a particularly plush Committee room.
During the next forty-five minutes The Right Honourable Member for Gloucester was grilled on issues as diverse as the future of secondary education in the city, young people and voting and the Government's position on the Euro. Without doubt this was a very memorable occasion, one that would stay with all of us for many years to come.
After grabbing lunch on the hoof, we headed east to the "Old Lady of Threadneedle Street". The Bank of England is housed in an imposing building and the sense of importance and history is awe-inspiring. Undaunted, the boys enjoyed the opportunity to discuss interest rates, consumer spending and the single European currency with Mrs Reeve.
Despite the long drive, the battle with the tube and the limited opportunities for lunch we all agreed it had been an excellent day.
U6 Economists and Parmjit Dhanda MP
1 October 2003After a several difficult weeks without any full-time caretaking staff, we are now back up to full strength. After much refurbishment of the caretaker's Cottage, our new resident Site Manager Mr Steve Ridler takes up his duties. We also welcome as his assistant caretaker Mr Jeff Watts. |
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| Steve Ridler Site Manager |
Jeff Watts Caretaker |
The Cock House trophy competition opens for this academic year with House Art.
Click on the link left for entry rules.
Just a couple of days after the LEA renewed its vindictive assault to eliminate selective education in Gloucestershire, the city's premier grammar school was celebrating the wonderful achievements of its students at their annual prize-giving evening.
Guest of Honour Dr Gary Bridge of Bristol University was himself a sixth form student at Sir Thomas Rich's from 1978-1981. He welcomed the opportunity to revisit the school which provided such a solid foundation for his eminent progression in the academic world where he is currently Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies at Bristol University.
In his brief but succinct talk he emphasised the strong ethos of Rich's that has taken time to establish and can only be maintained by an extremely dedicated and caring staff who not only have high expectations of their students but perhaps more importantly engender in their students' high expectations of themselves.
Students are expected to take part in all areas of school life - this is a key part of Sir Thomas Rich's that only succeeds thanks to the enormous input from staff. Sir Thomas Rich's School is not just about what examination grades you get, nor what colours you achieve for sporting prowess, not for being Cock House, but it's about developing the whole person and how you operate within the world of school and in the wider world community.
Dr Bridge highlighted three important factors that an education at Rich's develops in its students and concluded his speech by giving them vital advice particularly to those moving into the next phase of their lives -
In a world narrowed by prejudice and made complacent by apathy, be open to face and take on new challenges;
Be critical of received 'wisdom' and popular beliefs - think for yourself and make your own judgements;
Be confident in what you do and that what you do can make a positive contribution - a real difference.
This Dr Bridge felt - with apologies for 'bending' the school motto - is the essence of 'keeping the faith' with the ethos of Sir Thomas Rich's.
This years main school production is 'The Pirates of Penzance' by Gilbert and Sullivan. Book the dates now in your Diary! Performances will be on 26th, 27th & 28th November. It promises to be a rollicking, swashbuckling event.
We are grateful for donations of costumes - any clothing suitable for a pirate would be gratefully received, especially fancy waistcoats and bandannas. Any parents willing to help with costumes please contact Mrs E R Stanley at the School.
This year our 'A' level Biologists spent their first week of term on an Ecology field course in Orielton Field Centre, Pembroke. The time was used to gain practical and observational skills and collecting data to analyse back in the laboratory.
The first full day was spent at the seaside studying evidence for sand dune succession and the effects of trampling. The next two days were spent studying rocky shore organisms. The students enjoyed hunting for crabs and fishing around in rock pools but they weren't so keen on scrambling about in seaweed. Further studies were carried out looking at different management techniques in woodland. Finally the students worked in small groups on mini investigations and then presented their findings to the rest of the group.
The course was tremendously successful - the students worked very hard and gained a great deal of ecological knowledge and understanding while enjoying the sun, sea and fresh air.
Sir Thomas Rich's welcomes 4 new members of teaching staff for the start of term:
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| Miss K J Prinsep Chemistry |
Mrs G M Chang Physics |
Mr J Reid History |
Mr R Brookin Classical Civilisation |
As we have come to expect our students gained excellent results in this summer's examinations, just reward for their hard work and that of their teachers.
GCSE
98% of GCSE examinations were passed at grade C or better, every Year 11 boy achieved at least eight GCSE passes at grade C and above. 56% of all entries were at grades A and B, 85% of all entries were grade B or better. The average points gained by each pupil (based on A=8, A=7, B=6, etc.) was 66.9, equivalent to over eight grade A*s, or over nine grade As each - our highest ever score. Over half the Year group each gained at least seven A and A* passes.
AS Level
This is the third year of AS examinations; an AS examination covers three of the six units which comprise A-level studies and contributes half the marks to the final A-level grade. Our pass rate this year from all entries was 97% with 54% at grades A and B. Half of the Year group gained at least one A grade each, a quarter of the Year gained at least three A grades each.
A Level
Our previous best A-level results were achieved in 2002 when the results were, by a considerable margin, far better than we had ever recorded before. So it is to the credit of last year's Upper Sixth that the results this year were almost identical. 98% of all papers were passed, 66% at grades A and B. The average points per candidate (A=120, B=100, C=80, etc.) was 415.8. Half of the Year gained at least one grade A each, on average each student passed 4.2 A levels. Particular congratulations to Tim Grant who gained six A grades.
These excellent results ensured that Sir Thomas Rich's was well-placed in newspaper league tables. In both The Guardian and The Independent we were ranked 22nd in the country.
We can confirm that all our fund raising efforts to generate money to support the education of 20 new students at our Link School in Uganda - the Parvatiben Muljibhai Madhvani Girls School in Jinja - came to fruition just before the summer recess. Well done to all the students for all their hard work and ideas, the net result was over £3500 raised by the end of summer term.
Thus we reached our target and are able to sponsor for a year at the school 20 extra girls who would otherwise not been able to afford a secondary education. Coupled with the successful and enlightening visit during July by the PMM Headmistress Petronella Lujwala and Ben Ligwale (Head of ICT & Physics), we can now confirm our link to be well and truly forged and we look forward to more joint ventures/exchanges in the near future!
.... new news coming shortly ...
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