Original Song Compositions by Our A Level Musicians
Great Hall – Wednesday 7th September
Good morning. I hope you all had a very happy and enjoyable Summer holiday and are now relaxed and refreshed ready for the new term.I heard many very good things about you all last term, and was very impressed by what I saw of you on my visits. I have had some excellent reports from your holiday trips too.
First, let me emphasise what an honour it is for me to become the new Headmaster at Royal Russell School and what a delight it is to be standing before you this morning.
I am going to be talking to you this morning to outline some of my thoughts about the school and to give you the opportunity of knowing what I think about a range of issues, but first I would like to review our public examination results and holiday activities.
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GCSE & A level Success
Year 13 recorded the School's highest ever A*/A/B rate at just over 72%, with a 100% pass rate.
A large number of students gained 3 or more A*/A grades.
Of particular note are Helen Foss, who achieved A*AAA, and Kristina Fateeva, who recorded 2 A* grades, whilst Kelvin Wong attained 3A* and 3A grades, and Calum Skene received 4 A* grades.
This level of success enabled all university applicants to be accepted at the university of their choice.
AS Level:
My congratulations to the new Year 13 gained our highest A/B pass rate ever which should allow them to apply to start the UCAS season from a position of strength.
GCSE:
Year 11 achieved a pass rate in excess of 96%, with 42% of all subjects taken recording an A*/A grade. Of our top performing students, 9 achieved 5 or more passes at A* grade and 20 students received 8 or more passes at grades A*/A.
There were also some very encouraging modular results from our new Year 11 pupils. Well done to you all.
On the strength of these results I am delighted to have awarded Sixth Form Academic Scholarships to the following pupils:
Emmanuel
Alice
Nikita
Jodie
Teodor
Kaitlin
Masato
Kathleen
Laura
Hannah
Chekeh
Callum
Tighearnán
Please give a warm round of applause to these scholars and to all who sat public examinations this summer.
Five new staff join the Senior School:
Miss Bernatovitch Teacher of PE
Mrs Colyer Assistant Librarian
Miss Green Teacher of English
Mr Khuman Teacher of Physics
Mr Muir Teacher of English
Holiday Activities
CCF
In early July 48 Cadets and six Staff attended Central Camp at Longmoor in Hampshire.
Separately, seven Cadets and two CCF Staff, Sennelager in Germany.
This involved visits to The Queens Royal Hussars, Tank Battalion 203, 1 Military Working Dogs Management and 1st Army Air Corps.
While working with the German Army there was a number of competitions arranged. I am pleased to say that the cadets beat the Regular German Army over their own obstacle course!
Later in July five cadets completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Expedition on Dartmoor. Despite the challenging Dartmoor weather conditions they all successfully completed 50 miles in four days with three overnights camps.
The Music tour to Norway.
The Choristers, Barbershop, Senior Orchestra and Jazz Band had a most successful 6 day summer tour of Norway. 40 pupils performed to enthusiastic capacity audiences.
There were pupils from every year group and every day and boarding house at Royal Russell involved.
Looking forward:
I want to tell you about the values I admire and the expectations I hold. This may sound tough, at times, but after you have heard me this morning you should be clear about what I believe in and what my aspirations are for our school.
Royal Russell is a lively balanced co-educational boarding and day school which combines excellent academic standards with an outstanding range of cultural and sporting opportunities. This is strongly backed up by outstanding pastoral care and commitment to service and the life of the spirit. We have an outstanding campus which provides a safe and secure environment and an extended community only too willing to support us.
We have talented and dedicated staff who believe in maximising your potential, firing your imagination and encouraging independence of thought. We do this within a supportive and friendly environment.
From my first visit, I have been delighted to meet Royal Russell pupils. You are clearly a very talented and enthusiastic bunch and I look forward to getting to know each of you very well.
The pupils I respect are those who look after each other and go out of their way to show kindness to those in need. I want Royal Russell School to be second to none in the way its pupils care for each other, and for the school and, if necessary I want you to have the courage to stand up to bullies and tell us about them.
You must all work hard. I expect serious academic endeavour from you all and I am particularly interested in your individual effort in each subject. Clearly, those who work harder attain more and I will not have any time or respect for those who squander their opportunities here, achieve bad effort grades or, even worse, put others off working in lessons.
The appearance of some of you, both at school and outside, has been a subject of occasional unfavourable comment; often it is the actions of a minority which let down the whole school. School uniform must always be worn smartly and with pride on all occasions.
I cannot stand for lying, vandalism or any other form of anti-social behaviour. Such actions can destroy our life together and bring shame on the name of the school.
I am a great believer in being active and enjoying your sport and games. There is a huge amount to be gained from competition and I expect you to play your games wholeheartedly; with enthusiasm and commitment and to show good sportsmanship and behaviour at all times. This may shock you, particularly if you know how much I love winning, but I would prefer Royal Russell School to lose matches graciously than win them badly. In all aspects of life, we learn much more about ourselves in losing than in winning. That said, please don't think that I want you to be losers! I want you all to be able enjoy success at every level.
I expect you to commit yourselves to a range of activities that stretch your creative talents and expand your cultural horizons. There is so much in the creative arts that nurtures the spirit and we are lesser human beings without this.
I also care greatly about courtesy and good manners.
By good manners, I mean saying ‘thank you' when appropriate, talking politely to visitors, good manners at meals, opening doors to others, and much more besides. I certainly expect a response when I say good morning to you when I am passing!
Let me make my philosophy entirely clear to you. I am looking for pupils with courage and integrity for pupils with enthusiasm and commitment, for pupils with determination and strength who relish a challenge. You each have a great opportunity here to shape your own futures. You have excellent teachers and excellent support. The school is here to help you achieve your objectives. It is here to help you take responsibility for your lives.
Work out what you want, and we will help you achieve your objectives, but if you abuse the school or those in it, or your opportunities, you will not be welcome here.
I very much look forward to getting to know you all. I will be seeing Year 13 individually this week discuss your progress and ambitions and I will see Year 11 in the same way later this term.
I also have a programme of house visits planned to see you in your tutor groups.
When I meet you, I will want you to be honest and open with me, whether you are seeing me as part of a group or on your own.
If you need to see me at any time, please come to my study or see Mrs. Martin my PA who is based on the ground floor of the PAC.
My final words of advice for a successful year:
Be committed
Be involved
Be independent
Be strong
And most of all - be yourself
Every individual here today counts. I ask nothing more from you than for you to have the courage to be not ordinary but extraordinary, and to strive for the very best that you have ever achieved not only for yourselves, but for the school which we all love.
We will succeed in this if we all work together. This is the time for the big-hearted, not the faint-hearted; a time for givers and doers.
I look forward to working with the excellent staff room and with you all in this year ahead.
Have a great term.
CJH 07.09.11
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