Richmond
EDUCATIONAL CURRENT NEWS
In order to keep you updated and as you will be able to read more in this bulletin, we continue to work on reinforcing the awareness of the online safeguarding programme for our secondary students. This month they have had two presentations on this matter: one from the psychologist Irene Magallón and the other from the National Police Department. Shortly, RPS Families will be organising a session directed to parents, led by two prestigious experts on the safe use of technology.
This month we strongly recommend parent to see a new film. Then you can decide if it is appropriate for your elder children, the acclaimed film of Juan Antonio Bayona, “La Sociedad de la nieve”: a great example of resilience based on a true story.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN EYFS/PRIMARY AND SECONDARY?
Taller RPS Families
On Friday 19 January, RPS Families organised a workshop for children from Year 7 to 11 through the organisation “Dale una Vuelta” (https://www.daleunavuelta.org/) about “Educación afectivo/sexual en prevención de la pornografia”. With more than 40 children attending, and as part of RPS’s awareness programme, the talk was of great interest and the students asked a lot of questions.
La Granja de los Cuentos
As part of their topic ‘Animals’ where they have been learning about the different animal groups, on Friday 19 January Year 1 visited “La Granja de los Cuentos”. Despite the awful weather, the children all thoroughly enjoyed the day especially the opportunities to interact with a variety of animals. They were able to hold a snake, touch lizards, stroke rabbits and even ride a donkey. The trip was a great opportunity for the children to observe firsthand the similarities and differences between animals that they have been learning about.
Granja Giraluna
Our nursery classes had lots of fun on an excursion to Giraluna Farm. The children in nursery have been learning about life on the farm as their topic this term. They had a chance to see animals both indoors and outdoors. They learned how to milk goats, make butter and biscuits and they even had an opportunity to ride a pony. All the children enjoyed the trip and they all now know that we receive honey from bees; milk from cows and goats; wool from sheep; eggs from hens and much more.
Ratoncito Pérez
In February Year 1 visited “Museo del Ratóncito Pérez”. The children learnt about the tradition and story of Ratóncito Pérez and explored different memorabilia from it. At the end of the visit, the children all got to post a letter to Ratióncito Pérez and try and find him as they crawled through the tunnels that he uses. Each class was also gifted a book and toy to take back to school.
Round table discussion
In a stimulating round table discussion hosted at Richmond Park School, three parents delved into the significance of fostering resilience and leadership skills within their respective professional domains. The conversation amongst parents from diverse background, offered valuable insights into the critical role these key attributes play in various career paths.
During this extraordinary secondary assembly with our guests the discussion explored the fundamental theme of resilience. The parents came from different professional areas, including medicine, sales and business, and each parent explained the importance of resilience in their different professional worlds.
Moving on to the topic of leadership, the discussion explored how leadership qualities connect with resilience, emphasising the importance of strong leadership in every profession. The invited parents cited examples of effective leadership structures that promoting resilience, for example within a medical team or sales teams.
The need for visionary leadership in the business world was used as a specific example, with our guests asserting that resilient leaders inspire confidence and steer organisations through turbulent times. All guest speakers emphasised the significance of empathetic leadership in fostering resilience among all kinds of teams in their professional worlds.
During the discussion common themes emerged, underscoring the universal applicability of resilience and leadership across diverse professional sectors. As the session drew to a close, participants expressed gratitude for the opportunity to exchange their perspectives and gain insights that would undoubtedly inform their approaches in both their professional and parental roles.
The round table discussion served as a reinforcement of the importance of fostering resilience and leadership skills not only in the academic field but also in preparing students for the challenges of the wider world beyond the school gates. We are very grateful to our parents for giving their valuable time and expertise to inspire our students.
Year 2 visit to Parque Europa
On Tuesday 6 February, Year 2 visited “Parque Europa” in Torrejon de Ardoz as part of their learning about homes and buildings around the world. The children received a guided tour and visited famous monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Tower Bridge and a Greek Theatre. During their visit they also learnt about the traditions in different countries and had to identify the flags of each country along the way. The children all enjoyed exploring how homes and buildings are different around the world.
Vipeika
On Friday 23 February RPS students from KS 1 and 2 enjoyed one of those real inspirational moments listening to Silvia Florez, founder and president of Vipeika, who spoke about her beautiful project. The Vipeika foundation has provided education on a daily basis since 2011, to over 11,600 children in Africa. Vipeika has constructed several learning spaces in Kenya, Turkana, and Uganda.
As your children might have already mentioned, RPS has committed to support this project through different charity initiatives. Silvia managed to engage the children mainly through her own enthusiasm and get them to understand how by doing very little they could have a huge impact on the lives of children their age 8,000 kms, away. If you would like to know more about this project, please visit https://fundacionvipeika.org/
The aim is for RPS to collaborate with Vipeika in the opening of new educational centres in underprivilege locations in Africa. In secondary school, students will receive a session on Friday 15 March giving them all of the information on this project.
Online safety talk for KS2 and 3
On Friday 23 February, Irene Magallon, a trained psychologist came to our secondary school assembly to talk to our students about the importance of online safety. Students looked at real life examples to illustrate the essential need to be safe and secure when working online. There were videos, interesting discussions, question-and-answer sessions and some useful advice offered to help us move forward collectively as a community positively. The session linked effectively to our work in PSHE and whole school initiatives as we drive towards a greater awareness of the importance of being careful when using the internet.
Staff training
On Saturday, 24 February, the RPS staff came together for a workshop focused on professional development centred around the ‘Great Teaching Toolkit’. The session was well-delivered and left everyone feeling highly motivated. Drawing upon the expertise of our Secondary Leader, Brian Conway, who has extensive experience leading both a Teaching School Hub (https://www.thejulian-tsh.org.uk/) and a Research School in the UK (https://researchschool.org.uk/norfolk/) the workshop introduced a new approach to CPD for teachers at Richmond Park.
The Great Teaching Toolkit, developed collaboratively with Mr. Conway’s colleagues, is widely embraced across schools in the UK and internationally to enhance teaching practices. This innovative toolkit equips educators with effective strategies to elevate their teaching skills and has gathered significant acclaim in the education community. You can learn more about the toolkit and its impact on teaching excellence at: Great Teaching Toolkit CPD. (https://evidencebased.education/great-teaching-toolkit-cpd/.)
Other subjects also revised on Saturday’s session were IB, empathy week (as part of our awareness project) and iSAMS, our future MIS system.
Educación vial
On Monday 26 February and Thursday 29 February, Year 8 and 10 students received ‘educacion vial’ sessions led directly by members of the Spanish police force. The session focused on road safety using a range of techniques to give a positive message about appropriate ways to behave when we are out and about. We looked at specific examples of how traffic can cause devastating accidents and some of the steps that we can take to avoid such situations. The sessions were lively and dynamic and we appreciated the police officers coming in to give us their insights into these important themes.
SPORTS
Basketball
On Saturday 4 February we had our first friendly match for our basketball team. Students and parents were fully supportive of this fixture. The ten children involved were: (Gustavo, Ana, Nicolas, Alvaro, Javier, Gabriela, Lucia, Maxi, Unai and Nacho).
Whilst we faced challenging and talented opponents, we learnt from the experience and gained valuable expertise moving forwards into our future matches.
Football league match against St. George
On Saturday 10 February, Richmond Park School football team faced St George School. Everyone was playing very good. We won 9-2. A lot of members in the team scored like William, Ivan, Alvaro, Guille, Martin, Gabi and Gonzalo (3!).
In other ways it was a very cold day, but we played great so the cold was nothing for us. The game was very fair for everyone, although we felt sorry for St George because they lost badly. We also missed Alejandro, and Juan Pedro who could not make it to the game.
We want to thank everybody for the support from the public, especially our families. And big thank you for Mr McGarry for being the best coach ever!
Football league match against Valdeluz
On Saturday 17 February Richmond Park School played a league match against Valdeluz. This was an important opportunity for us to continue our successful league campaign.
In the first half, Richmond Park School took an early 2 goal lead and showed some great play. The first half continued and finished 4-1 to Richmond Park School. The second half was a different affair, with Valdeluz coming out in force to begin a fightback. It was a very competitive and close game although, in the end the game finished 4-3 win to Richmond Park School. Well done everybody!
HOUSES
Richmond Park School’s Houses score chart
MERCHANDISING
Richmond Park School’s merchandising
We invite you to visit our website’s section “SHOP” where you will be able to see all the merchandise with our Houses’ logos. Please remember this is a personalised service, so orders cannot be received with less than two weeks notice.
https://richmondpark.school/shop/categoria-producto/houses/
