The Royal Masonic School For Girls Senior School Weekly News Update
Friday 16th September 2016
SENIOR SCHOOL NEWS UPDATE Friday 16th September 2016 This Term’s Events at a Glance
RMS STEAM Lectures
Here are just a few important forthcoming events this month For our full calendar, click here
We are delighted to inform you about our next lecture series that is designed for students in Year 10 and above but younger students may come too. We would like to introduce girls to various STEAM topics and hopefully inspire them to seek a STEAM related career.
Tuesday 20th September Year 11 Geography Field Trip Wednesday 21st September Year 10 Textiles to Kew Gardens First STEAM Lecture –see panel to right Thursday 22nd September Australia Sports Tour Fundraiser Monday 26th—Tuesday 27th September Year 7 to Woodrow High House Tuesday 27th September Year 12 “Into the Sixth Form” talk Wednesday 28th September Year 8 European Day of Languages Thursday 29th September Cake Sale
Subsequent lectures will be as follows:
Saturday 1st October FORMS Hoedown
Wednesday 19th October—Mai Nguyen “Becoming a Civil Engineer”
Monday 3rd October Harvest Festival (Year 7-9)
Wednesday 16th November—Prof. Gerry Thomas “Radiation Risks”
Tuesday 4th October Harvest Festival (Year 10-13)
Wednesday 18th January—Dr Edina Rosta “Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry”
Friday 7th October Rush Hour Concerts Sunday 9th October Whole School Open Day (compulsory attendance for all girls)
Tuesday 18th October Drill Performance
Lectures will take place in the New Mark Hall on the third Wednesday of each month. We will start with tea and biscuits at 6.30pm followed by an approximately 40minute talk starting at 7.00pm with questions at the end. Please feel free to share these details with students from other schools. The first lecture is next Wednesday 21st September by Sophia Forrest who is a civil engineer and she will talk about "Women building the future - tales of the construction site"
Friday 30th September Year 7/8 Sleepover Exeat Weekend
Saturday 15th October Sixth Form Preview
Remember, 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".
Wednesday 15th March—Prof Alan Davies “Rainbows—the myths, the magic and the mathematics” Wednesday 17th May—Lavinia Harrington “Venice—the city as a work of art” Reminders will be sent out near the time about these lectures
Friday 21st October Senior School Prize Day
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SCHOOL INFORMATION Emails Sent this week If you have not received any of the emails listed below, please contact Pippa Hopkins via email phopkins@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk Years 7—11
Mindfulness Life Skills Evening
Years 7—9
CEM Information Evening
Year 7
Theatre trip to Matilda
Year 12
LEAD Programme Information and Consent
Years 7-13
Non Hazardous School Day Trips Consent for 2016/17
Year 10 and 12 PARTS
Drama Workshop Information
Year 10 Drama and Years 10-13 PARTS
“Things I know to be true” Theatre Visit information
Year 7
Final letter re. Woodrow High House visit
Year 10-13
St John Ambulance First Aid Course
Year 12 Politics
Trip Information—Houses of Parliament
Year 7-13
Start of term letter from Mrs Rose
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 within the School. If you have any other questions relating to the Parent Portal, please contact our Data Systems team on datasupport@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk
Reminder re. Absence Procedures
First Sports Results of the Year
We expect a call before 8.30am on each day
Year 8 and 9 had their first hockey matches of the year this week: results were:
of absence for day girls unless previously agreed with the Head of Year. Please leave a message on the dedicated pupil absence voicemail 01923 725328 or email: absence@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk. (In the case of absence due to bereavement please also inform the Head of Year) . An unexplained absence will be followed up.
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Year 8A v Aldenham won 8-0 Year 8B v Aldenham won 4-0 Year 9 v Queenswood lost 4-0 For updates on fixtures, results and PE in general, follow the RMS PE Department Twitter account https://twitter.com/RMSPEDepartment
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OTHER NEWS Message from the Bursar, Mrs Diana Robinson Firstly, may I welcome you all back to RMS, particularly new pupils and parents – I do hope you are starting to find your feet (and your way around!). I’d like to take this opportunity to run thorough one or two areas where we would greatly appreciate your co-operation in the maintenance of the safety and smooth running of the site.
Car parking issues Particularly for our new parents, and for general information, I would like to address some issues relating to the Car Park. 1. Use of Car Park As many of you will be only too aware, the school car park gets very congested at certain times of the day, particularly at pick up time. Unfortunately, despite the apparent room for more parking spaces, we are in fact bound by planning restrictions on its layout and use. Whilst the paddock at the end was once used temporarily as a car park during the building of Waitrose, it is rated as agricultural land and we were therefore required to restore it to its original state afterwards. We are now only permitted to use it on a limited number of occasions during the year – and cannot use it in wet weather at all. We are continually reviewing this situation, both in terms of longer term opportunities to permanently increase available parking space and bus routes; and in the shorter term by moving as many staff cars as we can away from the main Car Park. May we ask you to help as much as you can in this respect by (1) parking considerately during drop off and pick up times – please don’t double park, park in front of the barrier up to Cadogan House, or in the bus stops, for however short a time, as this can cause considerable problems, particularly with obstruction of the school coaches. (2) restricting your use of the Car Park to as short a time as possible whilst on school business. In particular, please do not leave your car in the Car Park whilst you are away from school, eg to travel on the tube or walk your dog(s). The Car Park at the station is large and only costs in the region of £4 a day. 2. Car Park permits We request that you (and your daughter if applicable) clearly display a school Car Park Permit in your windscreen whilst on the school site. New parents should have received one or will do so in the near future.. If you do not receive one, or are an existing parent that needs a replacement/ additional permit, please contact Janet Ford in the Bursar’s Admin Office via email jford@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk
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OTHER NEWS 3. Parking on Chorleywood Road Please may we request that parents/guardians do not park or drop girls off in the area off the Chorleywood Road near to the locked gates at the Cadogan House side of the site, where a No Parking sign is clearly displayed. Whilst the erection of the bollards by the Council following an injury to one of our pupils has made the situation safer for pedestrians, it has been noted that cars are now being parked outside the bollards or in the adjacent bus stop instead. This clearly represents an obstruction and potential hazard to passing traffic, as well as an annoyance to our neighbours, and I would ask for your co-operation in refraining from inconsiderate/dangerous parking. We also request that you park considerately if using the lay-by opposite the school, ensuring that you do not block residents’ entrances. 4. Exiting from the school Finally may I remind all drivers that we operate a no right turn when exiting the school gates to assist in the flow of traffic.
Dogs on site Please could I also note that in the interests of the health and safety of the staff and pupils, the school grounds are not open for general dog walking at any time – either to parents or members of the public. Should you wish your dog to accompany you whilst dropping your child at Cadogan House or Ruspini, please keep him/her on a lead at all times and carry plastic bags with you for the immediate removal of any excrement. If your dogs are large and/or boisterous, please consider whether it is fair on other children to bring them onto the school site, even on a lead, as they can be quite frightening for our smaller girls. After School Hours Access Whilst we are delighted to see parents in school, in the interests of the safety and security, we do need to ensure that we are always aware of the presence in the school buildings of anyone who is not a member of staff or DBS cleared, and that they are accompanied whilst in school by someone who is. We therefore ask that you access the school buildings only when necessary via the Main Reception areas of the Senior School and Cadogan House and Ruspini House, where you can be signed in and the relevant member of staff contacted. Please do not seek access via any of the doors controlled by digi-pad locks by asking a member of staff or pupil for the code or to let you in. Many thanks for your continued support in these matters, and hope you and your girls all have a wonderful term!
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FOCUS DAY 2016 STEAM Focus Day What is STEAM? A vapour arising from hot water? An industrial form of power or the build-up of anger?! It’s all of these things but put into an educational context STEAM is a collection of subjects that have been grouped together. Senior school girls learnt this in their first assembly of the year with the help of a video featuring cute children wearing subject themed t-shirts: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. The School is committed to focusing on these subjects during the forthcoming year and this began with an off timetable Focus Day on Thursday 8th September. Cunningly an extra ’E’ has been added to make us unique and so STEAM has become ESTEAM, a play on words that encourages girls to build their own self-esteem and confidence. As with previous Focus Days all pupils were relieved of their usual timetables and attended sessions led by in house experts (teachers) and a few extra helpers who came along to share their own personal experiences of STEAM. Girls were allowed to wear practical, comfortable clothing so they could get stuck into all the activities and some of the staff, History in particular, were sporting some interesting outfits! The aim of the day was the help pupils apply creative thinking and practical problem-solving to a range of tasks that had more pronounced cross-curricular links than they might normally be used to. For example the Maths department focused on order, pattern and colour for its braiding activity whilst Art and Textiles teachers were utilising digital technology to draw animals on IPads. The Performing Arts and PE departments invited girls to use themselves in creative ways and also to build Self Esteem through group work. Humanities and Language based subjects had to be slightly more inventive with the brief but rose to the challenge by creating lessons based upon Technological Inventions. The Design and Technology and Food and Nutrition teachers treated Year 8 to hands-on sessions in rocket building and bread-making. The Science department invited back old girl Megan (currently completing an Engineering degree) and Gaby to help Year 7 and Year 11 to build and race cars made from scrap materials.
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FOCUS DAY 2016 Over in the Art Department our guest speaker, Nick Corston from SteamCo brought in a fascinating piece of equipment that turns newspaper into titanium strength STIXX and in a break from the norm the English teachers were simultaneously helping Year 11 to illustrate passages from classic novels. If this wasn’t enough Mr Buddie had also invited BBC Microbit creator, David Whale, to school to inspire the whole of Year 8 on how to use their new personal piece of technology! Year 10 were also challenged to consider climate change with a talk from Royal Holloway lecturer Danielle Shreve. The Sixth Form girls started their day by attending careers seminars led by different professionals who work in diverse fields. Sadie Viles was a medical technician at GSK for 20 years and now works for the Motor Neurone Disease charity. Richard Kirby, a local businessman brought in his 3D printer to show the girls a live example whilst Captain Chloe Booty shared her experiences of life in the Armed Forces and how she got there having completed a Masters in Engineering. We were also happy to welcome back Rianna Roston who spoke to girls about her degree in Art History and University life in general. Following this form groups took part in either a Crime Scene Investigation (I still don’t know who the murderer was!) or were invited to challenge their brains and fingers to create complex structures from paper. After a very busy and warm morning, we were lucky enough to have a live rocket firing from the Lower field and a well-earned lunch! Traditionally the afternoon of Focus Day is always given over to start of term Celebration featuring the entire school, from the Ruspini children who sang songs about Rocket Men and stars through to the most important people; the parents and families sat in the balcony. During the Celebration we saw lots of photos and videos about the morning and joined in with songs and hymns. Our guest speaker took to the stage and after taking a selfie with the entire school from his vantage point at the front, Nick Corston enthusiastically shared the reasons behind his passion for STEAM and summarised the day by speaking of inspirational people such as Lemn Sissay and Elon Musk. Overall it was an inspiring and eventful day that has hopefully prompted pupils and staff to consider how they can apply skills across the curricular and maybe reconsider their future careers. There are lots and lots of photos of the day on our website galleries—click here to view them. You can also view a short video of Mrs Rose speaking about the importance of STEAM education here Mrs Kingston, Head of Art
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STEAM NEWS
For more information about the Three Rivers District Council “Big Draw STEAM Festival”, see the document attached to this email.
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FORMS NEWS FORMS would like to offer a warm welcome back to all parents after the summer break. We hope you are all rested and looking forward to this years exciting events for all the family. For those new parents we would like to introduce ourselves. FORMS are a small committee of school parents who help to organise fun, social events for parents and families within the school community ranging from spectacular balls to the famous fireworks evening. Ultimately we are fund raising for those little extras to enhance our girls learning within the school. 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 HELP URGENTLY NEEDED: Fiona Gratte has been Chair of FORMS for 18 months and sadly is stepping down, so we would really like to thank her for her hard work and dedication. So we are appealing to the parent community for a replacement Chair, as well as additional committee members. Without more support sadly FORMS is unsustainable. Presently, the committee is only six parents, which is a disproportionate number, compared to the 1,000 girls who attend the school and benefit from the monies raised. Being a member of FORMS is a good way to meet other parents, raise funds for the girls and be part of the school community. In order to keep these events running we need far more participation from parents on a committee level as well as support at our events. If you are interested in the position of Chair or any other information please email us urgently: forms.vicechair@gmail.com or forms.secretary@gmail.com DONATIONS: If you have any unwanted new toys please can you leave in the New Mark Hall or with Mrs Faulder. These will be used for out toy tombola at the Hoedown. Thank you very much DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: FAMILY HOEDOWN – Saturday 1st October 6.30p in the school dining hall. A fun family evening with a live band, food, photo booth and kids tombola. £12 per child, £15 per adult or £50 family ticket (2 adults 2 children) FIREWORKS TO MUSIC – Friday 4th November CHRISTMAS FAIR – Saturday 3rd December SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALES Abbey is looking for good quality second hand uniform, so please donate without delay. Located Ruspini House last door, up the stairs on the left. Next opening dates are: Friday 23rd September 8.00-9.00am and Friday 30th September 3.00-4.00pm Please contact Abbey on forms.rms2hu@gmail.com
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FORMS FAMILY HOEDOWN
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