As we approach the end of Term 5, I would like to pause
and reflect upon how far the Year 7s have progressed since
September. I am truly proud to be part of their journey and
share the highs (and at times the lows) of their time at St
Richard’s. Moving forward, the final summer term is always
exciting with summer shows, sports day, Year 7 BBQ
and Block Days allowing pupils to experience enrichment
activities and be ‘outside’ the classroom.
In assemblies this term, I have been very much a bystander
as each Form Class has presented their own assembly.
The pupils (with a little help from Form Tutors) have
researched themes, produced powerpoints and delivered
very high quality assemblies. I have once again been blown
away with all their talents and public speaking skills.
During Term 6, I will be liaising closely with Mr Steele
(Pastoral Leader Year 8) as part of my handover to him. He
will begin to have short meetings with the Year 7s to start to
get to know them. On Monday, 24th June, he will take day
to day responsibilities for the year group, allowing me time
to complete the preparation for the Year 6 Taster Days and
final parts of the transition programme.
To finish the year, we will have a celebration as a year
group and a BBQ is planned for Friday, 12th July. details
about this will be sent closer to the time.
Pastoral Reports
Year 8
Year 7
Mr Steele, Pastoral Leader Year 8
mrsteelej@strichardscc.com
Page 2
Newsletter 6 - May 2024
Mr Bligh,
Pastoral Leader Year 7
mrblighj@strichardscc.com
As always, I like to share achievements in our newsletter and I want to congratulate Joana on
We have a World Champion
Cheerleader! This term Ariana
has been competing in Florida
with Top Gun UK Lime & Mint
cheer teams in the Under 12
and Under 16 group World
Championships. In a truly
global competition, Ariana
and her team beat 160 other
squads to be crowned World
Champions. She won three
gold medals competing in the
All Star Worlds, Youth Summit
and The Summit events. Well
done!
Assemblies
We had an assembly this term on Body Image and Body
Positivity. In the Body Positivity video, I used a video
resource from Dove, which illustrated how much editing and
professional beauty work goes into creating an advertising
campaign for beauty products. I wanted to show that the
expectations created are not only unrealistic, but literally
impossible without the use of computer generated filters of
photoshopping. It is important that pupils have a healthy
understanding of how the media manipulates images
and creates unrealistic expectations which can really
damage people’s self esteem. Please talk to your children
about these issues, and be aware of the images they are
constantly being fed, and the impact this can have on their
mental health.
We also had assemblies on Easter, Disability and Equality,
Mental Health and Vaping. The Vaping assembly focused
on the industry aspect of vaping, as I compared the
damage caused by Big Tobacco from the 1950s onwards as
they used public campaigns to discredit the science behind
smoking damage. I wanted the children to understand
that vaping companies are usually owned by tobacco
companies, and that the consequences of vaping are not
fully understood yet. Vaping is a growing problem in our
younger generations, and the perception that it is a healthy
alternative to smoking is misleading and potentially harmful,
as the number of young vapers continues to grow rapidly.
Congratulations to…
Anna and Orinta who, alongside Annika in Year 9, set
up a fantastic bake sale to raise money for Children in
Need. They made a huge number of cakes, cookies and
cupcakes, and sold out of everything, which is a fantastic
achievement. Overall they raised almost £90 for charity,
and were a shining example of how giving up a little time
and effort can make a big difference to those who need it
most.
PSHEe
This term, the Year 8s will be looking at RSE, including
healthy relationships, romantic relationships, diversity in
gender and sexuality, and other important issues such
as online pornography. The children will be given the
opportunity to think about what constitutes a healthy
relationship, which will hopefully be valuable as they begin
to mature and think about their personal relationships.