School news round-up (including student’s 130-mile walk for two charities)

Pupils from Hemel Hempstead’s Astley Cooper School and Adeyfield School have taken part in a workshop where they designed their school team’s rugby shirt.

The shirts will be produced and donated by Canterbury, the official kit supplier to England Rugby and the Official Partner to All Schools.

The Canterbury kit design workshops are part of the All Schools programme, launched in 2012 by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in partnership with the Rugby Football Foundation.

All Schools aims to help more state secondary school children play rugby and to encourage new players to join local clubs. Since September, 100 new schools have joined All Schools, of which Astley Cooper School and Adeyfield School are two.

With this additional group on board, All Schools now have more than 300 schools participating since the initiative was launched.

The Canterbury Kit Design workshops saw pupils learn about the history, heritage, values and importance of the rugby shirt.

One of Canterbury’s experienced designers talked pupils through the process of designing a shirt, as well as the key elements to consider when creating their own design - from thought process to practicability.

Schools were given a unique opportunity to create a shirt to be worn by their school rugby team, which Canterbury will produce and supply free of charge.

The third year of All Schools coincides with the RFU’s legacy plans for Rugby World Cup 2015, hosted by England.

Canterbury CEO Chris Stephenson said: “We’re passionate about working together with the RFU on the All Schools project and are looking forward to supporting these new schools by providing kit and the unique opportunity to design their own team shirt.

“It’s been fantastic to see the impact rugby has had on the students taking part over the last two years and encouraging that the schools are building such strong club links.”

Astley Cooper School and Adeyfield School took part in the Canterbury Kit Design workshop at Wheatley RFC on Tuesday, October 21.

England Head Coach Stuart Lancastersaid: “The match shirt is a source of huge pride for the players.

“When they are presented with it before an international it is a very special moment for them and the whole squad. By teaching these pupils who are new to the game the core values of rugby union and the history of the shirt, I’m sure that these school teams will share the same passion for their own design.”

Schools that are new to rugby are identified in regional clusters and supported over three years with a tailored programme to meet the school’s individual needs, including links to a local club. By establishing relationships with rugby clubs it will help the school and club to retain more players and expand the game.

Visitors from Ghana pop into Longdean School

Visitors from the Bedomase Methodist Junior High School in Ghana were at Longdean School recently.

This is the latest visit between the two ‘link’ schools and builds on a very strong partnership.

Two Ghanaian teachers and one Ghanaian student took part in lessons, visited other schools to develop links and watched a wonderful concert put on by Longdean’s performing arts faculty in the evening.

The International Schools Group at Longdean ran School Parliament while the teachers visited the real Houses of Parliament, the South Bank, the very moving poppies at the Tower of London and Wembley Stadium.

Longdean’s link coordinator Martin Macdonald and international schools coordinator Caroline Hodgson said: “The visitors also took part in an extremely interesting Year 7 assembly before final farewells took place.

“It was a fantastic trip and Longdean School managed to fix network problems for the IT Centre in Ghana and planned a series of new lessons for both schools to complete this year. Our students are now planning their next visit to Ghana in the near future.”

And if that wasn’t enough, a Big Draw recently took place at Longdean School as part of a national drawing competition.

Art teacher Laura Moore said: “There was a record turnout of students and they were set a challenge to create patterned Zentangle fish for the Fish Tank Exhibition in response to the ‘Out of this world’ theme.

“Students produced wonderful bold, tessellating patterns and the Zentangle fish were brought to life by some very talented ICT students using a stop motion animation.

“A very big well done and thank you to all of the students and staff taking part in the Big Draw.”

Year 13 student’s 130-mile walk for two charities

A Year 13 student of The Hemel Hempstead School recently walked a massive 210 km (130 miles) in eight days to raise £2,500 for two charities.

With the help of her family, she covered around 26km (16 miles) a day in blazing heat of more than 27oC. She suffered from injuries including blisters and swollen ankles along the way.

The cash she raised will go to Jessie’s Fund, which helps children with complex needs through music, and Music Alive, which provides helps disabled people make and enjoy music.

Caitlin’s headteacher Patrick Harty said: “The school and Caitlin’s family are very proud of her achievement and full of admiration for the determination she displayed.”

From the West End to Bishop Wood School in Tring

A storyteller will bring her West End show to Bishop Wood School in Tring.

Danyah Miller will perform I Believe in Unicorns, the Michael Morpurgo book, for students on Monday, November 17, at 11am.

She has recently finished a run at the Vaudeville Theatre in London and is currently on tour around the country. Michael Morpurgo himself has seen the show and said: “I didn’t like it, I loved it!”

Bishop Wood teacher Janet Reeve, who is organising this event, saw it with her 10-year-old daughter.

She said: “I found it magical and inspiring. I am sure that the children will find it an unforgettable experience.”