The Royal Masonic School For Girls Senior School Weekly News Update
Friday 16th December 2016
SENIOR SCHOOL NEWS UPDATE Friday 16th December 2016 Next Term at a Glance
Message from the Governors
Here are just a few important
We are delighted to announce the appointment of
forthcoming events coming next term…
Mrs Toni Finkel as Head of Ruspini House from
For our full calendar, click here
the beginning of the Hilary Term 2017.
Monday 9th January 2017
Toni Finkel has worked in childcare and education
Boarders Return
for over 32 years, largely in the independent
Tuesday 10th January
sector, and has led and managed nurseries for 30
Term Starts
years. Her qualifications include a Masters in
Tuesday 17th January
Early Education, Early Years Teacher Status and
Charity Cake Sale/Non Uniform Day
a Montessori Teaching Diploma. Mrs Finkel
Wednesday 18th January
has lectured on CACHE Level 2 and 3 courses in
STEAM Lecture
Childcare and Education and the Early Years
Year 12/13 English Lit to The Tempest
Foundation Degree, and is an experienced Early Years and nursery inspector, having inspected for
Monday 23rd January
Ofsted for a number of years.
Visiting Opera Production: The Diary Of Anne Frank
We are extremely grateful to Lucy Sumner for
Thursday 26th January
providing excellent interim cover of the position
Strings Masterclass
whilst we sought a suitable replacement for Karen Woodhead. Miss Sumner will be staying on for a
Thursday 9th February Musical Theatre and Drama Showcase
few weeks in January in a consultancy capacity, which will facilitate a smooth handover to Mrs
Monday 30th January
Finkel.
Life Skills Evening Friday 3rd February
David Ellis
Rush Hour Concert
Governor, and Chair of Remuneration and
4th—5th February
Personnel Committee
EXEAT Weekend Year 11 At Home (Saturday am) Wednesday 8th February Year 9 Options Evening Year 10 Vaccinations Friday 10th February Year 9 At Home Friday 10th—Sunday 19th February HALF TERM
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FAREWELL TO MRS ROSE Mrs Rose had a fantastic send off in School assembly yesterday, where the girls treated her to a “This is your RMS Life” experience, complete with the big red book, as well as a presentation that finished with some of our favourite Mrs Rose pictures… here are just a few of them!
Mrs Rose left the Great Hall for the last time with the words of the School Hymn ringing in her ears, pushing her specially decorated bike as she did so (thanks to the PE Department for customising the bike!
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SCHOOL NEWS We are delighted to share with you Mrs Rose’s portrait (on the front cover), in keeping with our “Portrait of…” theme seen both in the New Mark Hall and on the school website. Of course, Mrs Rose couldn't be pictured without her beloved bicycle, her links to Cambridge and her love of all things Italian! The portrait is now hanging in the Dining Hall so we do hope you will come and see it next time you are in School! During assembly, Mr Keiles presented Mrs Rose with the gifts so thoughtfully bought by FORMS on behalf of RMS parents and guardians. Mrs Rose in turn has presented the School with a duck house for the Chapel Quad, named “Casa Rosa”, to keep our returning pair of ducks and their ducklings safe from the marauding birds!
Staff Farewells We also said goodbye to Ms Smith, Teacher of Maths and the School’s Examinations Officer, to Miss Rai, Teacher of Latin and Classical Civilisation, and to Mrs Beal, PA to Mrs Rose. We wish all of them well with whatever they have planned for the future!
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MINDFULNESS AT RMS A further opportunity to learn Mindfulness We had a successful Mindfulness course for parents during Michaelmas Term and I am pleased to offer a further course during Hilary Term. Once again the teacher will be Gayle Creasey (http://gaylecreaseypsychotherapy.co.uk) and the course will take place here at School on Monday evenings from 7.00pm until 9.00pm as follows:
January 16th, 23rd and 30th;
February 6th, 20th and 27th;
March 6th and 13th (though these might need to be 13th and 20th);
there will be a retreat day at the Chalfont St Peter Academy on 19th March 2017 from 10.00am until 4.00pm.
The course will cost £260 which is comparable with equivalent courses and you will be guided through a variety of Mindfulness exercises; you will also receive a course handbook and there will be tailored guidance to support your individual learning and group discussions to facilitate your understanding. Each week you will be invited to practice Mindfulness at home, using downloadable audio exercises, in between the taught sessions. In this regard Mindfulness is very similar to physical fitness in that we can go to the gym once a week but unless we put in further practice at home we will not get the full benefits of the training; in both cases the more we can practice the better, but how much participants do at home is entirely up to them. Mindfulness teaches ways to pay attention to life, to pause, to step back and see a situation more clearly. The School is steadily introducing Mindfulness to the girls, and this is an opportunity for parents both to learn something of what they are learning, and to learn some Mindfulness for themselves. Participants will be taught simple skills to create the positive mental habit of noticing and savouring pleasant experiences that will enhance your resilience and happiness both as a parent and as an individual. You will also learn how bringing mindful awareness to stress, anxiety or worries can help you to cope more effectively in the challenging moments that you inevitably face as a parent; and also in such moments that you experience in other aspects of your life.
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MINDFULNESS AT RMS A couple of comments from parents who took the course in Michaelmas Term might be helpful:
I have found the course to be very useful indeed and I feel that I have learnt a lot and have become better able to control negative thoughts. As a result, I think I now appreciate what I have more. I realise that there will be busy even difficult times, but that they will normally pass and that it is important to look after myself during these times by not letting negative thoughts dominate, impacting on my mood, my behaviour and my health.
I would thoroughly recommend this course to everyone, no matter what their situation.
I am very pleased to report that in actual fact some aspects of Gayle’s course have supported my existing meditation practice. Of particular help has been “naming thoughts” which has helped me to identify unhelpful thought patterns and start to diminish their influence over how I feel.
If you would like to book a place on the course please go to http://gaylecreaseypsychotherapy.co.uk/royal-masonic-parents-course; there are contact details there for Gayle if you would like to talk to her; or you can contact John Quill, the School Chaplain, once the new term begins, preferably by email jquill@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk. As there is a limit to the number of people who can participate you will need to book promptly if you want to secure a place. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing you in 2017 Rev Quill
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EVENTS NEXT TERM 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 Next 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!
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EVENTS NEXT TERM RMS STEAM lectures 2016-17 - Looking back and forward This lecture series is designed for students in Year 10 and above although younger students and parents are welcome too. Our aim is to introduce girls to various STEAM topics and inspire them to seek a STEAM related career. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, but we believe strongly that there would be no "STEM" without the Arts - hence our decision to go for "STEAM". Lectures take place in the New Mark Hall on the third Wednesday of each month. We start with tea and biscuits at 4.15pm followed by a talk of approximately 40 minutes, starting at 4.30pm with questions at the end. In September, we welcomed Sophia Forrest from Taylor Woodrow and she gave us an excellent insight into the life of an engineer by telling us about her experiences of building a bridge and re-designing Kings Cross Train Station. In October, we met Mai Nguyen ( an Associate at London Bridge Associates Ltd) and she delivered an interesting talk on "Becoming a Civil engineer and career as a woman in tunnelling�. In November, we had the pleasure of welcoming back Professor Gerry Thomas from Imperial College who visited us 5 years ago. It was great to hear about the latest radiation data from the Fukushima meltdown and further analysis on the Chernobyl disaster. Her speech was not only clear on radiation risks but encouraged us to support nuclear energy as an excellent alternative source. We have three more lectures next year and we are looking forward to meeting Dr Edina Rosta, Professor Alan Davies and Lavina Harrington. Details of their talks can be found over the page...
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EVENTS NEXT TERM Dr Edina Rosta “Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry” Wednesday 18th January Dr Rosta is a Lecturer in Computational Chemistry. Her team looks at the formation and cleavage of phosphate bonds, which are essential to most biological processes including reproduction, protein synthesis, signal transduction, energy storage, and transfer. The group uses computational methods to reveal the molecular mechanisms of how enzymes can achieve both high efficiency and specificity in catalysing phosphate hydrolysis and transfer reactions. Dr Rosta obtained her PhD with Arieh Warshel who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013 so it's a real privilege she is coming.
Prof Alan Davies “Rainbows—myths, magic and mathematics” Wednesday 15th March Professor Davies is former Head of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Hertfordshire where he has been teaching mathematics to engineers, scientists and mathematicians for more than 30 years. He is the author of six undergraduate mathematics textbooks. We are looking forward to meeting him.
Lavinia Harrington “Myths & Masterminds of Renaissance Venice” Wednesday 17th May Lavinia studied History of Art at Oxford University, where she graduated in 2008 with a first class honours. Lavinia specialised in the art of the Ballets Russes and the Renaissance before gaining an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art (2010) focusing on 16 th century works on paper and Titian. She currently works for Art History Abroad and tutors History of Art in London and Paris. Her talk is going to add to the variety of our lecture series and remind us of the importance of creativity in STEM.
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