Our cashless catering system will be live from the 22/04/2024 onwards! Students will be able to use their fingerprints to purchase school meals from Monday 22nd April. From this day, we will no longer be accepting cash payments for school meals on site.

There is a guide on how to top up money via ParentPay available in a letter which has been sent out. This letter is also available on our school websites letter and catering pages and also on EduLink.

If you have still not provided your consent for us to secure your child’s fingerprint, you can do so here – https://forms.office.com/e/804ai0BCEG . If your child has already had their fingerprint taken, you do not need to provide consent again. We hope that Cashless Catering will greatly reduce queuing times at lunch time and students being safer as they will not have to carry cash to and from school.

Friends of Ridgewood High School are holding their next meeting on Friday 26th April at 5-6pm in the School Library. Anyone interested in volunteering would be welcome to attend.

School is out for Easter, we hope everyone enjoys their two weeks off! Congratulations to 7FSW who continue their lead for best attending form so far this academic year. Followed closely by 7THS and 11FBN!

Our usual Sway newsletter for this short half term is now up. To view it, go to our sway newsletter page on the website or click the image below.

At Ridgewood, we know how important academic study is when it comes to experiencing success at school. However, we are also aware that school is about far more than this; we want our students to be able to work independently, or as part of a team, and to develop skills of resilience, so they know how to respond to situations that might be unfamiliar to them.

To support this, Year 9 students will have their rearranged Challenge Day on Friday 15th March 2024, this was originally due to take place on Friday 20th October 2023 but was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Students will take part in an entire day of teambuilding activities, that focus on leadership, collaboration, problem solving and of course having some fun with friends.

Parents should have filled in the consent form on parent pay - there is no cost but consent form is required for student to take part.

Measles is spreading fast. To protect residents three free measles, mumps and rubella vaccine clinics are taking place across the borough every Saturday in March.

Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide lifelong protection against measles, mumps and rubella.

The vaccine is available to children aged from three years and four months old up to people born from 1970. Parents and carers are encouraged to take their children to have their first or second MMR jab and get themselves up-to-date at the same time.

Anyone who isn’t sure if they or their children have already had both of their vaccines can check their child’s red book (personal child health record), check the NHS app, or contact their GP practice.

People can attend if they are registered with any GP practice or not.

When and where are the clinics?

Saturday 9 March

• 9am to 12.30pm - Woodsetton Medical Centre, Dudley DY3 1AF

• 9am to 4pm - Brierley Hill Health and Social Care Centre DY5 1RU

• 10am to 2.30pm - Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge DY8 2AA

Saturday 16 March

• 9am to 12.30pm - Northway Medical Centre Sedgley DY3 3QY

• 9am to 4pm - Brierley Hill Health and Social Care Centre DY5 1RU

• 10am to 2.30pm - Dudley Town Centre, by the fountain DY1 1PN

Saturday 23 March

• 9am to 12.30pm - Castle Meadows Surgery, Milking Bank DY1 2TY

• 9am to 4pm - Brierley Hill Health and Social Care Centre DY5 1RU

• 10am to 2.30pm - Halesowen Town Centre, Lower Somers Square B63 3AE

Saturday 30 March

• 9am to 12.30pm - Bath Street Medical Centre, Sedgley DY3 1LS

• 9am to 4pm - Brierley Hill Health and Social Care Centre DY5 1RU

• 10am to 2.30pm - Lye High Street, by the war memorial, outside Christ Church DY9 8LQ

Further information regarding these vaccines can be found at https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDUDLEYMBC/bulletins/38f17ff

Friends of Ridgewood are holding their Extraordinary general meeting on Friday 15th March at 5-6pm in the School Library. Anyone interested in volunteering would be welcome to attend.

Following on from Parents Evening yesterday the Year 9 options choices are now live! To select your choices for KS4, please ensure you have logged into your RM Unify account. You will find the form to fill in on Microsoft Teams which can be access via the tiles on RM Unify. The deadline for submitting options choices is on Friday the 8th March 2024. Link to sign in below.

https://sts.platform.rmunify.com/Account/SignIn/ridgewooddudley

For more info regarding options choices, the options booklet on our website can be accessed by the link below.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d888bffb74a8806ed4ad349/t/65c0d5cde38ae07674c27ac1/1707136462108/Options+Booklet.pdf

For those who may not have seen in the February Sway newsletter, we have some fantastic news. One of our Year 8 students Kelsea Wakelam recently competed for team England in the Muay Thai boxing 'Muay Thai Festival' which was hosted in the Lumpinee Stadium in Thailand. Kelsea competed with 60 countries and 900 participants and we are over the moon to say that Kelsea came home with the gold medal for England! Kelsea fought a tough girl in the semi final from USA dominating the fight to gain a win and then faced Holland in the final!

A massive well done to Kelsea, she is truly an inspiration for all Ridgewood students and we couldn't be more proud of her. We're proud to be able to support Kelsea in her career, here's to more wins in the future!

Reminder that tomorrow is Parents Evening for our Year 9 students. This will be a great opportunity for speaking with your child's teachers about subject choices and whether subject selection is an appropriate choice given the progress that they are making over the academic year. More info on options can be found on the options page on the website. https://www.ridgewood.dudley.sch.uk/options-20242026

Our wonderful school choir have attended their second of three rehearsals at the Dudley Performing Arts centre, ready for their big performance at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Sunday 10th March.

Students have been working in collaboration with staff and other school choirs from the Dudley region to prepare four songs to perform on the stage at Symphony hall.

Some of our amazing vocalists have put themselves forward to sing a solo with the choir in front of an audience of 2000 people! We can't wait to see what they can do- we know our students really do shine.

For anyone wanting tickets, the concert starts at 4pm and tickets are on sale here for Symphony Hall: https://bmusic.co.uk/events/dudley-goes-to-symphony-hall