REFLECTIONS

Our Director of Education, Jim Shallcross, shares some of his thoughts on education:

EMPATHY AWARENESS

In this new section we shall recommend webinars, talks, documentaries, etc. to parents and certain year groups with parents’ approval, all the news that children could benefit from relating some current challenges in society. At this time, we should like to suggest:

  1. `The social dilemma´ (“El dilema de las redes”), directed by Jeff Orlowski that you can see on Netflix.
  2. The online world is posing an ever-increasing risk to children, and it is important that schools, parents and carers work together to take an active role in teaching children about online dangers. Learning how to act safely when using the internet plays a vital part in safeguarding our children. We should like to share with you two guides that focus on how to set-up parental control on android and apple devices.  We hope these guides will be useful especially before the summer holidays, when children will have more time to browse the internet using your phones and tablets.  This is the first of many posts that we will be sharing with you and we believe they will be a valuable source of information to keep you informed and hopefully keep our children safe.

LATEST NEWS

Sustainability talk for parents

On Monday June 6, Richmond Park parents were invited to a ‘Sustainability’ presentation given by Ms Anais Rossens. She spoke about Richmond Park’s ‘sustainability project’ and how all keystages were incorporating the `sustainable development goals´ into the curriculum through specific themes and cross-curricular projects. Staff are also receiving regular training and are creating new initiatives for the future. We consider the sustainability co-curricular project to be a vital and permanent priority for our school.

Year 9 tennis vs. Holy Mary Catholic School

On Thursday 9 June Richmond Park School welcomed Holy Mary for the final part of the tennis series between the two schools. Students competed in a range of single and double matches. Students were able to compete based on their level, which made for a really exciting challenge for all students involved. We should like to thank Holy Mary for making the matches in Year 7, 8 and 9 so fun and competitive. 

Swimming gala

After developing their abilities throughout the year, the pupils have enjoyed a series of aquatic activities including waterpolo, diving and obstacle races in the pool. In this way, they have both used the skills in different contexts and ended the year having fun and relaxing.

At the end of this school year, all the students enjoyed the House swimming competition, which took place over two weeks. Throughout, there was an atmosphere of friendly rivalry. The races were all closely contested, and the winners only emerged on the final day: Foxes!

Sports Week

2022 Sport’s Day was this year completed in Key Stages. Year 3, 4, 5 & 6 joined together, as well as Year 7, 8 & 9. This made for a fantastic group of students to compete together for their houses. The students competed in sprint races, javelin, long distance, shot put, tug-o-war and long jump. We saw some fantastic team work and sportsmanship throughout each day and  the students should be extremely proud of their efforts. The different key stage groups were brilliant, very competitive throughout and it made for a very exciting event. The tug-o-war was particularly enjoyable, the students had a fantastic time with this new event. The sprint races, were as always, extremely close and photo finishes were required in almost every race! Each house had lots of success in a range of different events, it was extremely close, however The Foxes came out overall winners of Sports Week. Congratulations to students, staff and parents for their support.

Richmond Park School invites Yeats Society

On Friday 10 June, Yeats Society Madrid held its first live reading since February 2020 in the Performance Centre of Richmond Park School, Madrid. The evening was made up of readings of poems in English and Spanish with some musical interludes.

The Performance Centre proved to be an ideal venue and we look forward to further collaborations in the future.

Year 6 end of year trip

Year 6 went on an exciting residential trip to Valencia for 3 nights/ 4 days to celebrate the end of their time in primary school. They participated in team building games and activities at the hotel and on the beach – There was also a strong focus on Sport and Science with visits to the Aquarium and Science Museum in Valencia and a morning spent learning wind surfing, kayaking and paddle boarding skills. They also had a fun afternoon at the beach, swimming and playing games. For many of the children, it was the highlight of their final year in Primary at Richmond Park School.

Year 7 visits Santa Eulalia’s French patisserie

On Tuesday 14 June, Year 7 French students accompanied Mr Bird and Ms Colomies to Santa Eulalia French café in the Palacio district of Madrid. The students completed some preparatory tasks prior to departure, and then everyone was ready for this special morning together. Year 7 students ordered delicious snacks and sampled some typical French soft drinks. At the end of the trip, the students purchased some delicious cakes for their families, and then we returned to school. This was a special morning for our students, and we shall treasure this time together in the bakery.

Year 9 trip to Toledo

As part of the Spanish humanities curriculum, Year 9 visited in June the emblematic city of Toledo. During the visit, our students had an educational tour focusing on the city’s history, its museums and more significant buildings. Working in groups, the students gathered evidence of the art and urban planning. We visited: the Bisagra Gate, the Santiago del Arrabal church, the Cristo de la Luz mosque, Zocodover Square, Toledo Cathedral, the Tránsito synagogue and the Greco’s museum.

In this way, our students were able to consolidate their knowledge and understanding of the Iberian Peninsula’s medieval period and also reflect on the peaceful co-existence of these cultures in this extraordinary place.

Richmond Park School end of year social event

On Saturday 11 June we held our first school  community event, which consisted of a wide range of sports and creative activities. Families and staff started with a sponsored walk to then get together at school for different activities and lunch. Most of all, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk, eat and drink together in a beautiful setting.

  • More tan 550 participants
  • More tan 20,000kms walked
  • Donations for Fundación A la Par: + 4,000 euros

Year 9 cultural trip to Valencia

The trip to Valencia was focused on developing a number of areas in both sport and science. The students also took part in a tour on the first day and a number of students really impressed the tour guide with their historical knowledge! Over the next few days students took part in sports fixtures against different British schools El Olivo and Cambridge House College) as well as visiting the Arts and Sciences zone. The students also visited Albufera, where they were shown the process of farming rice.

Year 9 waterpolo and syncro teams

After working throughout the year to develop the students’ swimming ability and essential skills in waterpolo, the team is fully prepared to display their outstanding progress and skills in an exhibition.

In the artistic swimming group we are also seeing impressive progress in terms of expression and physical flexibility, Their work is increasingly synchronised, which is so impressive given the significant challenges involved.

Summer School parents presentation

With over 190 children enrolled for our Summer School 2022, more than 80 families attended a presentation to find out about all the activities that their children will be soon enjoying: water games, art, cooking, sports, arts & crafts, … and lots more!

Drama performance

On 31 May the  Drama Extra-Curricular group (Years 6-8) performed “Weird but Wonderful”.

This wasn’t a play per se but a variety of poems, sketches & songs: inspiration coming from Roald Dahl, Jack Prelutsky, the Addam’s Family, Bedknobs & Broomsticks & even West Side Story!

A common theme of witches, wizardry, magic potions & spells in a Hogwarts style setting were woven together to create the performance.

Combining different genres & styles was demanding as pupils played more than one role meaning quick costume & set changes. The students not only rose to the challenge but carried it off with aplomb, judging by the rapturous applause from fellow students and parents alike.

Richmond Park School’s Houses score chart

WEB SECTION “SHOP”

Richmond Park School’s merchandising

We are happy to remind you of the website’s section “SHOP” where you will be able to see all the merchandise with our Houses’ logos. We have T-shirts, jumpers, sports bags and cups. We hope you like them.