Latest - Reading Blue Coat School Reading Blue Coat School

News
Social Media
Reading Blues Podcast
Video
Virtual Assemblies
Headmaster's Desk

Latest

In May, hundreds of the Blue Coat Community took part in #RBC4NHS challenge. Together, we covered 11, 510km and raised vital funds for the NHS. Some of the money raised went to Royal Cornwall Hospital and below is a message of thanks, from them, to everyone who took part: Dear Reading Blue Coat School, Thanks to your #RBC4NHS sporting challenge during May you have donated a fantastic £1000 to the Covid19 fund. During the pandemic our teams have worked long hours, putting themselves on the frontline as they care for our friends, family and loved ones. Many of them have spent time away from their own families to protect them from the infection and some have become ill themselves. The Covid19 Fund, part of Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity continues to support the welfare of our teams now and in the recovery period of the Covid19 pandemic and also provide support for our patients and their families at this difficult time. Funds will be used to enhance staff rest areas, give special to thanks to team members and support staff in their recovery following the Covid19 pandemic. Your support will also provide additional support for patients and their families at this difficult time. Thank you again for being a part of our charity. Kind regards, Karen Murrish Fundraising Manager, Royal Cornwall Hospital.

📖📚Summer Reading Challenge 2020📚📖⠀ Welcome to the Reading Blue Coat Summer Reading Challenge 2020 – Bookopoly! ⠀ ⠀ Your challenge this summer is to make your way around the Bookopoly board, completing as many squares as you can. You can chose how to make your way around the board. Whatever you choose to do is fine! ⠀ -Square by square⠀ -Rolling a dice to determine your next square (go around the board as many times as you like)⠀ -Picking squares that you think sound interesting or fun⠀ ⠀ When you complete a square, cross through it and make a note of the title/author of the book you read. There is a table included for you to do this. Add any other information as you see fit. ⠀ ⠀ Each book you use for this reading challenge should be something you haven’t read before. Each book should count for one square only on the board, but you may complete the creative tasks using the same book more than once as inspiration. ⠀ ⠀ Plus points and prizes will be awarded when we return to school for all who participate! There is no pressure to do everything on the board, we just encourage you to take part as much as you like. ⠀ ⠀ You can find books for this challenge from your family, friends, local library services and online (kindle etc). ⠀ ⠀ You have until Friday 19th September to complete the challenge. You can email your entry to Miss Knight, or hand in a paper copy when we return to school. ⠀ ⠀ If you have any questions please email Miss Knight, Head Librarian – ck@rbcs.org.uk

Parents of Pupils in Years 7-12 are invited to a free 'How to help your child study effectively without becoming the enemy' webinar tomorrow evening at 18:00. In a 60-minute webinar Elevate will delve into practical strategies to show parents how to improve student time management, study skills and boost motivation while studying independently at home Please reserve a place via the following link: https://www.elevatecoaching.info/webinar-uk-1/ Please note that Elevate Education will be promoting their online coaching services during the seminar, which do not from part of the program of student seminars run by the school.

Year 11 student, Jim R has written the following poem about the current pandemic. Excellent work Jim. In years to come Iâ€™ll sit with my grandchildren close by Reflecting on my life, emitting a sigh, â€˜Tell us a story grandad, they desperately pleaâ€™ I think for a while and say Iâ€™m the class of 2020 For ever more this will be a historical year A global population living in fear COVID 19, social distancing, self-isolation Quickly becoming buzz words of the nation It started in China in the town of Wuhan A virus that jumped from animal to human, It spread around the world at incredible pace The message to all, â€˜please create spaceâ€™ Not many weeks passed before it truly took hold Affecting the young but killing the old. The Prime Minister and Prince Charles proved you couldnâ€™t avoid it widespread within England but London was the location worst hit As the NHS struggled to deal with the outbreak It became clear to all Boris had a decision to make And then it came one glorious, sunny afternoon, â€˜Please work from home and schools will shut down soonâ€™ â€˜GCSEs and A levels cancelledâ€™ was the astonishing headline Followed by guidance to students â€˜you will all be fineâ€™ Whilst parents and pupils were confused, reeled in shock Supermarkets reported â€˜toilet rolls are now out of stockâ€™ And then came the point where rules were laid down â€˜You can leave your house but donâ€™t go out of townâ€™ The overall objective was to halt the strain on the NHS Many Years of underfunding had left it a mess But the cases increased, and the death toll rose Drs and nurses exhausted, suffering incredible lows As demand became higher, hospitals across the country were erected Thousands of volunteers, airline staff, the general public quickly selected. â€˜How did it endâ€™ my grandchildren shriek. â€˜With thousands of deaths I whisperâ€™ as my eyes start to leak â€˜People lost jobs and companies ceased to trade The population adjusted their lifestyle, all very afraidâ€™ However, some good came of those miserable days A decrease in pollution, a reduction in the haze Although a positive outcome was hard to find It became a period where the message was â€˜be kindâ€™

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Ed Trelinski to succeed Pete Thomas as Second Master of Reading Blue Coat from September 2020.â € â € Ed arrives from Rugby School, where he is currently Housemaster of a boys' boarding house. Ed joined Rugby in 2009, following four years spent working on the political campaign trail in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans. Prior to that, Ed earned a B.A. in History from University College London and his M.A. in Political Management from George Washington University. He teaches Politics, History and EPQ. Rugby is Edâ€™s passion and he greatly enjoys sharing his love for the game as a coach. During the holidays, Ed is an avid traveller and has led school trips to Honduras, Zambia, Malawi and the USA. When time permits, he can generally be found on top of a mountain in the Lake District!â € â € Ed is married to Sarah, who was Head of French at Rugby prior to the arrival of their daughter, Ela, and baby Thomas. All four of them are really looking forward to the challenge ahead and becoming part of Blue Coatâ€™s wide and warm community.

Based in the centre of Reading, Haslams has a great event space and is the prefect venue for our upcoming networking drinks event on Thursday 13 February. Come along and enjoy complimentary drinks and canapÃ©s and catch up with your fellow Blue Coat parents and meet other members of the Blue Coat community including Old Blues. We will be joined by our current Headmaster, Mr Jesse Elzinga and our Second Master (and Headmaster from September 2020), Mr Pete Thomas. They are both very much looking forward to seeing lots of parents at the event. Please register using the link below: https://www.trybooking.co.uk/NZF

Many thanks to Alison Saxby, who spoke to our Sixth Form Geologists about the importance of minerals in 21st century industries. Mrs Saxby has over 30 years of experience in this field, having graduated from Leeds University in Mineral Engineering and has gone on to a long career which led her to her current employment at Roskill as a Senior Analyst and Director. With an ever increasing demand for renewables and rechargeable batteries, particularly in transport, the world needs more and more minerals to make their component parts. Alison discussed the origins and uses of Cobalt, Lithium, Talc and Graphite as well as Rare Earths and told us about how forecasting the abundance and accessibility of these resources is an important aspect of her work. She guided pupils through the industry and discussed the environmental considerations where tight rules are applied so that we can access these minerals whilst considering the impacts. Thank you so much to Alison for coming to speak with the students. Mrs Finucane, Head of Geology

Competing for our fourth successive year, RBCâ€™s Lego Robotics Club sent two teams to Bristol last Wednesday to compete against 18 other schools in the regional robotics league. â € â € This yearâ€™s theme was â€˜City Shaperâ€™, for which each team had to design and present a solution to an environmental problem encountered in todayâ€™s cities. The judges were impressed by the junior teamâ€™s functional â€˜hydrogen fuel cell powered Lego carâ€™, which sought to address the issue of traffic pollution. â € â € The seniors presented a remote building inspection drone, constructed almost entirely from Lego Technic, this functional flying drone was designed to be able to remotely inspect dangerous or inaccessible structures, such as those damaged by earthquakes.â € â € After successful project presentations both teams encountered a few technical issues in the robot competition and were disappointed not to make the finals this year. However, the senior team, Brickathalon, were commended for their team work and slick presentations and came runner up in the Core Values category.â € â € Well done to all the boys for their effort, enthusiasm and teamwork of the last few months. Particular thanks go to the Y13 boys who gave up their free time & returned to the robotics club to act as mentors for the junior team.