Parent & Student Information
Tolerance. Aspiration. Achievement.
Good to know.
“In the beginning I thought it would be hard to make new friends, but in actual fact it’s really easy”
Yr 7 Student
2018 Admissions
Admissions for September 2018 Y7 places have now opened and the deadline for making “on time” applications is 31 October 2017.
Warwickshire County Council have produced a guide to the process for parents, which can be found by following this link – Apply for a secondary place
We wish you the best of luck and hope you get the place you want.
For September 2018 Admissions, once the offer of a place has been made (1st March 2018), parents / carers must accept or decline the place as soon as possible with their home admissions authority and not school. We understand that unfortunately, Northamptonshire admissions have given out inaccurate guidance in this respect.
“Everyone in the school is really kind and nice. There’s no bullying, no worries”
Yr 7 Student
Admissions Appeal
Appeals for year 7 entry from September 2017 If you are not offered a place at Rugby Free Secondary School, you have the right to appeal. Our appeals are being administered by Warwickshire County Council. Appeals can be lodged using the online form, simply select Rugby Free Secondary School as the “School appealing for”. Alternatively, we can send you the appeals form if you would prefer to email or post your submission. On time appeals must be with WCC by midnight on 29 March 2017. Appeals received after that time will still be heard but will be classed as late.
Any queries, please contact RFSS on 01788 222060 or Admissions on 01926 414143.
“I wasn’t nervous on the first day because we knew the teachers from induction day”
Yr 7 Student
Top Tips for New Students
Our students have created their very own top tips for settling in quickly at RFSS.
- Always be yourself
- Be organised and hand in homework on time.
- Try your hardest in lessons.
- Always wear correct uniform.
- Get to know your timetable quickly.
- Make sure you get to lessons on time
- Be kind to everyone
- Never give up
- Don’t annoy your teachers
- Learn how to tie a tie
- Have fun
- Make new friends
- Do not leave PE with your trainers on
- Remember your PE kit
- Don’t say anything if you have nothing nice to say
- Treat people how you would like to be treated.
- Make sure you’re ready to leave the lessons on time
- Don’t rush to the dinner queue
- Don’t be afraid to express yourself
- Stay away from arguments
- Go to after school classes
- Come to school if you are only a little bit ill. You will feel better later in the day.
- Find things you have in common with other pupils to make new friends
- Don’t be too concerned about getting a boyfriend or girlfriend or having too many friends or being popular.
“Just be yourself — it’s the easiest way”
Yr 7 Student
Main Term Dates
2017-2018
Training Day – 1 September 2017
Autumn Term Starts – Monday 4 September 2017
Half Term – 23 till 27 October 2017 inclusive
Autumn Term Ends – Wednesday 20 December 2017
Training Day – 21 December 2017
Training Day – 22 December 2017
Training Day – 5 January 2018
Spring Term Starts – Monday 8 January 2018
Half Term – 19 till 23 February 2018 inclusive
Training Day – 26 February 2018
Spring Term Ends – Thursday 29 March 2018
Summer Term Starts – Monday 16 April 2018
Bank Holiday – 7 May 2018
Half Term – 28 May till 1 June 2018 inclusive
Summer Term Ends – Friday 20 July 2018
2018-2019
Training Day 1 – Monday 3 September 2018
Training Day 2 – Tuesday 4 September 2018
Autumn Terms Starts – Wednesday 5 September 2018
Half Term – 29 October to 2 November inclusive
Autumn Terms Ends – Thursday 20 December 2018
Training Day 3 – Friday 21 December 2018
Training Day 4 – Monday 7 January 2019
Spring Term Starts – Tuesday 8 January 2019
Half Term – 18 to 22 February inclusive
Spring Term Ends – Friday 12 April 2019
Summer Term Starts – Monday 29 April 2019
Bank Holiday – Monday 6 May 2019
Half Term – 27 to 31 May inclusive
Summer Term Ends – Friday 19 July 2019
Training Day 5 – Monday 22 July 2019
Uniform
We are delighted to have secured Webb Ellis Limited in Rugby as supplier of RFSS uniform offering the convenience of the high street to our parents / carers when purchasing uniform. Items with RFSS logo must be bought from Webb Ellis Limited.
All other compulsory items can be purchased from high street retailers. A full list of compulsory items is noted below.
If you feel you may be entitled to assistance towards the cost of logo’d items, please contact our Finance Department for advice.
| Main School Uniform |
|---|
| RFSS grey school blazer (Boys’ or Girls’ style) |
| RFSS purple v-neck jumper |
| RFSS school tie |
| White, long or short sleeved shirt |
| Black school trousers or skirt |
| Black school shoes |
| Girls: Black or white socks/black tights |
| Boys: Black socks |
| RFSS bag |
| P.E. Kit | |
|---|---|
| Indoor Kit | RFSS grey and purple polo shirt (boys’ or girls’ styling), RFSS purple and grey shorts, black or white trainers. |
| Outdoor kit: | RFSS Rugger top (boys only) RFSS grey and purple hoody (girls and optional for boys), RFSS leggings (girls), plain black tracksuit bottoms purple football socks black or white trainers. |
| RFSS P.E. Bag |
Blazers/outdoor coats
Students need their blazer in school every day.
Students will need an appropriate outdoor coat to be worn on top of their school blazer when the weather requires this. This should be black or grey.
“In 20 years time we are going to be able to say, ‘We built this school’”
Yr 7 Student
Parent Pay
We’ve gone cashless!
RFSS uses the Parent Pay platform to enable payments for all things school related. We find this system removes the challenges and simplifies all things associated with cash payments. To login in and take advantage of this system click the following link:
“The teachers give you more independence”
Yr 7 Student
School Transport
For further information on school transport services please click the following link:
“We have peer mediators — if you have arguments they help you sort it out”
Yr 7 Student
Complaints Procedure
Should you wish to make a complaint or an allegation in respect of Rugby Free Secondary School, you have the right to contact our Chair of Governors, Nathan Siddle. Please contact him via School.
GDPR
You may be aware that from 25 May 2018, the rules around data protection are changing. The ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (GDPR) will change how we can use your personal data and keep it safe and will also strengthen your rights over your own data.
The point of this is to make sure sensitive or private information about yourselves and your children stays safe. Whilst it is similar to the current Data Protection Act in many ways, there are a few differences, so we need to make a few changes at the school in order to ensure we remain compliant.
One of these changes is that we have updated our privacy notices, copies of which can be found on the Trust website – learningleading.org/gdpr. There is one a privacy notice for Parents and one for Students.
Paper Copies
On request, RFSS is happy to provide paper copies of information and documentation free of charge.
Please contact us on 01788 222060 for assistance.
School Day
Our school day is longer than the average day, with a taught week of nearly 27 hours and breakfast club plus enrichment activities around the taught day. As such, while our pupils will have a degree of independence, we will still take account of parents/carers and family life with a range of opportunities included in the before and after-school activities including supported homework sessions. This approach ensures that we will have enough time to deliver our curriculum offer and fulfil the high expectations for the school in terms of student achievement and personal development.
We currently expect the school day to look like this:
| 08.00 – 08.45 | Breakfast Club |
| 08.45 – 09.00 | Registration with Tutor |
| 09.00 – 09.40 | Lesson 1 |
| 09.40 – 10.20 | Lesson 2 |
| 10.20 – 11.00 | Lesson 3 |
| 11.00 – 11.15 | Break |
| 11.15 – 11.55 | Lesson 4 |
| 11.55 – 12.35 | Lesson 5 |
| 12.35 – 13.10 | Lunch |
| 13.10 – 13.50 | Lesson 6 |
| 13.50 – 14.30 | Lesson 7 |
| 14.30 – 15.10 | Lesson 8 |
| 15.10 – 16.30 | Enrichment activities and homework clubs |
“I like all the subjects. Well, there are a couple I don’t like, but the teachers encourage you to do your best”
Yr 7 Student
Homework
Using the latest advances in technology and the web we have signed up to the Show My Homework scheme which is an invaluable resource for parents and students. With clear to do lists and visual prompts this system makes keeping on top of homework a breeze.
Follow this link to login to your own student profile.
https://www.showmyhomework.co.uk/
“My favourite subjects would be art, biology and physics”
Yr 7 Student
Lunchtime
Students will have the opportunity to purchase a healthy well balanced meal, or, they will be able to bring a packed lunch to school. The lunch period will be well supervised by staff and there will be a range of activities taking place to stimulate and occupy the students. Students will not be allowed off site at lunchtime. Our weekly menus will be available for parents to view on the website. We will operate a cashless system so parents do not need to worry about students bringing money to school. The same system will allow parents to pay for trips and activities.
“If it’s tomato pasta, my hand is straight up”
Yr 7 Student
Free School Meals & Pupil Premium Funding
Pupil premium funding is an important additional resource that helps us to ensure that all students are provided with the resources needed in order to succeed at school.
To find out if your child is eligible for pupil premium funding, or to apply, please visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals
Annually we report on how RFSS have utilised this funding. You can read the report for the previous academic year by following this link –
“Our school dinners are amazing! At my old school there were flies in the drinks”
Yr 7 Student
RFSS Twitter Feed
Chief Executive https://t.co/GGWwK0lUbf
Angela, Nick feel free to visit our STEMM school in Rugby and see how we’re doing it.
@mrnickharvey Good morning Nick, thanks for raising this with me, I strongly support music as part of an holistic education curriculum
Post Edited: Teacher of English https://t.co/RNEFLzlu2P
RFSS Facebook Feed
RFSS is recruiting - Premises Officer
Please check our website for full details of the role and how to apply - rugbyfreesecondary.co.uk/
Home - Rugby Free Secondary School
rugbyfreesecondary.co.uk
RFSS is an 11-18 fully inclusive school. We are passionate about children’s learning and relish the challenge of guiding our children through life.
News from Mr Kerry
Very well done Kiera Humphries (Y8).
In March some of our students entered the Secondary Engineering Leaders Awards. Students were asked to identify a problem and come up with a solution. Kiera's “Forget-Me-Not” mug has won the Year 8 Central Region Prize.
Huge congratulations Kiera!!
Parent information event - all welcome.
The Friends of RFSS will be fundraising at this event by selling refreshments and cakes.