--- title: "Principal Blog 17th October 2025" url: "https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/news/2025-10-21-principal-blog-17th-october-2025" school: "The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College" --- ⚠️Due to a global Microsoft outage affecting organisations worldwide, School email is unavailable. Please call us directly. Thank you for your understanding. # Principal Blog 17th October 2025 ![Image of Principal Blog 17th October 2025](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/news/Living_Rainforest_1.jpg) 21 October 2025 **YEAR 8 TRIP TO THE LIVING RAINFOREST AT HAMPSTEAD NORRIES, BERKSHIRE…** Written by Lydia Flynn and Tilly Sutton in Year 8 On Wednesday 8th October we went on a trip to the Living Rainforest. It is a small zoo-like place that has recreated the equatorial rainforest biome. We were split into groups of 15 and a tour guide took us around the glasshouses. We learnt so many interesting facts about animal adaptations, for example we now know that a sloth can live between 20 and 30 years. As we went around, it was very humid, exactly like the rainforest climate. The different areas were amazing and colourful with different shades of green. There were many hydrophobic/water resistant plants such the taro plant, as well as animals roaming and in enclosures. One of the roaming animals was a Yellow-knobbed curassow which eat a varied diet of dried fruit, seeds and insects. Our tour guide shared lots of fantastic information about the wildlife with us. We learnt about the toucan that has no teeth and a large beak to reach all the fruits and berries around it. The armadillo, a solitary creature that has a hard shell to protect themselves from predators and the tambaqui fish, a fish with nut crushing teeth! After this we were able to visit the souvenir shop and completed our work booklets which will support us in our studies of world biomes! Lastly, the staff at the rainforest comments on how polite, engaged and inquisitive the Ridgeway students were, one of the best schools to visit the venue. It was an enjoyable day and thank you to all the staff that made the trip possible. **FSM SPORTS REWARD IN THE SPORTS HALL…** On Friday 17th October 15 students were rewarded for having 100% attendance, outstanding behaviour and over 35 house points in Term 1. All students were allowed access to the sports hall to play badminton, football and basketball! Mr Wakefield [![](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/IMG_3470.jpg)](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/IMG_3470.jpg) [![](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/Living_Rainforest_2.jpg)](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/Living_Rainforest_2.jpg) [![](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/Living_Rainforest_3.jpg)](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/Living_Rainforest_3.jpg) [![](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/IMG_3473.jpg)](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/gallery/principal-blog-17th-october-2025/IMG_3473.jpg) [ Trust Highlights 2024–2025](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/news/2025-07-23-trust-highlights-2024-2025-5) [Consultation on Admissions Arrangements Notice December 2025 ](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/news/2025-12-04-consultation-on-admissions-arrangements-notice-december-2025-23) ### School News - [Latest News](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/news) - [Newsletters](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/newsletters) - Celebrating Our Strongest Outcomes - [GCSE Results](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/gcse-results) - [A-Level Results](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/a-level-results) ![The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College](https://files.schudio.com/the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college/images/logo/Image_copy.png) **The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College** Inverary Road Wroughton Swindon Wiltshire SN4 9DJ Tel: 01793 846100 ### Useful Links - [Privacy Policy](https://thewhitehorsefederation.org.uk/privacy-policy) - [Cookies](https://thewhitehorsefederation.org.uk/cookies) - [GDPR](https://thewhitehorsefederation.org.uk/about-our-trust/gdpr) - [Modern Slavery Statement](https://thewhitehorsefederation.org.uk/modern-slavery-statement) - [Equality Act](https://files.schudio.com/the-white-horse-federation/files/documents/policies/08_SP_V1_Equality,_Diversity_and_Inclusion_Policy_2026.pdf) ### Useful Links - [Behaviour Policy](https://files.schudio.com/the-white-horse-federation/files/documents/04_SP_V9_Behaviour_Policy_2026(1).pdf) - [Careers](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/about-us/careers) - [Curriculum ](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/learning-education/curriculum/overview) - [Arbor payments](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/parents-students/arbor-payments) - [Contact Us](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/contact) Proud to be a part of [**The White Horse Federation**](https://thewhitehorsefederation.org.uk/) [![](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/images/TWHF.png)](https://thewhitehorsefederation.org.uk/) Registered in England: Company Number: **08075785** Registered Office: Plymouth St, Swindon SN1 2LB © Copyright 2023–2026 The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College School & Trust Websites by [ ![Schudio logo](https://the-ridgeway-school-sixth-form-college.schudio.com/img/logo/light.png) ](https://www.schudio.com/)