The Royal Masonic School For Girls
Friday 13th January 2017
SCHOOL NEWS This Half Term at a Glance
RMS STEAM Lectures
Here are just a few important forthcoming events coming next term… For our full calendar, click here
Our STEAM lecture series, designed for students in Year 10 and above (although younger students and parents are welcome too) continues this term,
Tuesday 17th January
with the following lectures:.
Charity Cake Sale/Non Uniform Day
Dr Edina Rosta “Computational Chemistry and
Wednesday 18th January
Biochemistry” Wednesday 18th January
STEAM Lecture 4.30pm NMH Year 12/13 English Lit to The Tempest
Dr Rosta is a Lecturer in Computational Chemistry. She obtained her PhD with Arieh
Monday 23rd January
Warshel who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in
Visiting Opera Production:
2013 so it's a real privilege she is coming to RMS
The Diary Of Anne Frank
Prof Alan Davies “Rainbows—myths, magic
Thursday 26th January
and mathematics” Wednesday 15th March
Strings Masterclass
Professor Davies is former Head of Physics and
Thursday 9th February
Mathematics at the University of Hertfordshire
Musical Theatre and Drama Showcase
where he has been teaching mathematics to
Monday 30th January
engineers, scientists and mathematicians for more
Life Skills Evening
than 30 years. He is the author of six undergraduate mathematics textbooks. .
Friday 3rd February
Lavinia Harrington “Myths & Masterminds of
Rush Hour Concert
Renaissance Venice” Wednesday 17th May
4th—5th February EXEAT Weekend
Lavinia studied History of Art at Oxford University,
Year 11 At Home (Saturday am)
where she graduated in 2008 with a first class honours. Her talk is going to add to the variety of
Wednesday 8th February
our lecture series and remind us of the importance
Year 9 Options Evening
of creativity in STEM.
Year 10 Vaccinations
Lectures take place in the New Mark Hall starting
Thursday 9th February
with with tea and biscuits at 4.15pm followed by a
Music and Drama Showcase
talk of approximately 40 minutes, starting at
Friday 10th February
4.30pm with questions at the end.
Year 9 At Home Friday 10th—Sunday 19th February HALF TERM
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SCHOOL NEWS Emails Sent this Week Years 7- 11:
Invitation to Life Skills Evening
Year 11:
Request for contact details from Prom organisers
Years 7-13:
Information about Mindfulness Course for Parents/Guardians
Year 10:
Reminder to return vaccination forms
Years 7-13:
Bad Weather Policy
Years 9-12:
December 2017 Ski Trip information
7S:
Message from Mrs Gardner regarding staff change
Parent Portal queries & updating contact details To advise us of any changes to your contact details, change of boarding status etc., please contact changeofdetails@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk. This is a group email address and your communication will be sent to all the relevant parties wit hin the School. If you have any other questions relating to the Parent Portal, please contact our Data Systems team on data support@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk
Message from the Bursar: We have received the following message from the ISBA (Independent Schools Bursars’ Association) and wanted to pass this onto parents and guardians. We have no reason to believe we have been affected by this but would ask parents/guardians to be vigilant. In the last couple of weeks it has become apparent that some of our member schools have been subject to a serious and potentially criminal email phishing scam where prospective parents have received email correspondence asking for money. All the emails looked very genuine and contained previous email messages from the schools, and school letters. Upon inspection it was found that fake domain names had been set up adding an extra letter at the end of the schools domain name to make them look similar. The previous school email conversations and letters had been obtained by the scammers using a phishing email that had been opened by members of staff which collected information and allowed them access to a school email account. RMS Staff will make every effort to ensure they protect ehri accounts etc, , and we would also ask that parents and guardians to be extra vigilant before sending money in response to emails requesting fees.
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SCHOOL NEWS Life Skills Evening—Monday 30th January Parents and Guardians of girls in Years 6 to 11 are invited to join us for the first Life Skills event of 2017. This session, entitled “Health Choices in Diet and Exercise” will be held on Monday 30th January from 7.00pm to 8.30pm in the New Mark Hall. Doors open at 6.45pm for drinks and light refreshments. The session will end at 8.30pm followed by opportunities for questions and answers. In order to facilitate discussion, please do not bring your daughters/wards to this session; they are given advice and strategies during their Life Skills lessons. The session will be led by Mrs Lucy Williamson, RMS parent and nutritionist, and Dr Caroline Quinn of the Colne medical practice in Rickmansworth. If you are able to attend the event, please contact Pippa Hopkins via email phopkins@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk by Wednesday 25th January.
Ski Trip 2016 Many thanks to the staff who accompanied the Lower School Ski Trip to Les Menuires during the Christmas holidays—everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, and we look forward to sharing a write up of the trip with you shortly! In the meantime, you can view a full gallery of images here
This week’s Sports Results Congratulations to the Year 8 Netball A team who got 2017 off to a winning start with a 32-7 victory over St Helen’s. Congratulations also go to Cadogan House runners, with the Year 6 team coming second a the SSP Indoor Athletics, gaining a place in the finals, and the Under 9 cross country runners coming second at the York House Cross Country Race. Well done to Athena C who came second overall against girls in the year above. Don’t forget to follow the RMS PE Department on Twitter for up to the minute results and news!
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PARTS Events Performing Arts Events Tickets are now available for our visiting opera production 'The Diary of Anne Frank', produced by critically-acclaimed About Turn who wowed audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. Starring international soprano Polly Ott, we are incredibly lucky to host this production. Tickets for this production are strictly limited as it is to be held in Alex Drama Studio, so I recommend you buy them early. They can be purchased here: https://www.trybooking.co.uk/950 .
PLEASE NOTE THIS PRODUCTION IS ON MONDAY 23rd JANUARY AND NOT TUESDAY 24th AS PREVIOUS ADVERTISED This term also features a Strings Masterclass featuring a number of our talented cellists and violinists who will be given specialist coaching by a well-respected professional, in front of an audience, followed by a performance of string repertoire (26th January at 7.00pm) On 9th February, our students of Musical Theatre and Drama will put on a showcase of the performances they have prepared for their examinations (London College of Music Musical Theatre Performance examinations, as well as LAMDA Drama exams, RADA Shakespeare Certificate and Watford Festival pieces) The School Dance Show is always a highlight of the Performing Arts Calendar and this year will be no exception—on 8th and 9th March, Fusion Dance Company will put on “Spectrum— The Dance Show” featuring dancers from across the Senior School performing in a wide range of styles, including contemporary, street-dance and jazz. From 21st-23rd March the Faculty of Performing Arts will be putting on the Lower School Production of Disney Magic, featuring girls from Years 7 to 9. I do hope that you are able to join us for some of these events! Mr Hyde, Director of Performing Arts
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FORMS NEWS WELCOME BACK FORMS would like to offer a very warm (especially in the current climate!) welcome back to all parents after the Christmas break. We hope you are all rested as we have some fabulous events coming up for the rest of the year and would love you all to get involved.
FUNDS RAISED SO FAR: With your support over our past two events we have raised approximately a fantastic £7,000, which will go towards the enhancement of learning for every girl at School. Thank you to everyone for their generous support at the popular Christmas Fair, which was a family fun, filled afternoon enjoyed by many. We had a lot of volunteers this year which was incredible and set up and clear down was done in record breaking speed, so we really appreciate this help and please do keep up this momentum for further events. We are a friendly bunch and would love to welcome new ideas, volunteers or members any time. So if you would like more information please don’t be shy and contact us by email on: forms.secretary@gmail.com DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: QUIZ NIGHT– SATURDAY 11TH MARCH AT 7.30PM – So gather your friends to win that FORMS Quiz Night Trophy! £10 per ticket to include a hot meal. More details to follow………. SUMMER BALL – SATURDAY 13TH MAY SUMMER FAIR – SATURDAY 24TH JUNE SENIOR SCHOOL SPORTS DAY – SATURDAY 1ST JULY
SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALES The FORMS Second Hand Uniform store is located Ruspini House last door, up the stairs on the left, and will be open a the following times this half term: Friday 20th January 8.00- 9.00am, Friday 27th January 8.00-9.00am and Friday 3rd February 3.00-4.00pm. If you have any queries regarding second hand uniform, please contact Abbey on forms.rms2h@gmail.com
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