The Royal Masonic School For Girls Senior School Weekly News Update
Friday 27th April 2017
SCHOOL INFORMATION Life Skills Event for Parents and Students in
This Half Term at a Glance
Years 6-11—Tuesday 9th May
Here are just a few important
We are pleased to have the expertise of ChildNet providing parents and daughters with strategies to stay safe on-line. Supporting lessons on etiquette, safety and skills held in Life Skills and ICT classes, Childnet will cover issues such as digital footprinting, illegal downloading, sexting, cyberbullying, excessive gaming and safeguarding. The presentation to parents will take place in the New Mark Hall. The doors will open at 7.00pm and light refreshments will be served from 7.00 to 7.30pm. The session will end at 8.30pm followed by opportunities for questions and answers. Your
forthcoming events coming this term… For our full calendar, click here Tuesday 2nd May Year 11 to Aladdin Wednesday 3rd May Non Uniform Day for Atorkor Year 8 HPV Vaccinations Thursday 4th May Year 9 HPV Vaccinations Community Arts Tea Party Friday 5th May Year 8 to Cadbury World
daughter/ward is welcome to attend the event with
Tuesday 9th May
you.
Life Skills Evening
In order that we have an idea of numbers attending,
Friday 12th May
I would be obliged if you would indicate your plan to
Year 8 At Home
attend this session by emailing Matthew Edwards
Wednesday 17th May
(medwards@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk) by
Year 11 Study Leave Starts
Wednesday 3rd May at the latest.
Year 11 Celebration
We hope that lots of you are able to attend what
Saturday 20th May
promises to be a very useful evening.
Year 13 Leavers’ Supper Tuesday 23rd May Year 7 to Bhaktivedanta Manor Friday 26th May
The Term’s First Sports Results
HALF TERM
Congratulations to the Year 8 tennis team who got the term off to a flying start with a 12-0 win over Abbots Hill. U20 Athletics squad finished 4th at the District Athletics meeting.
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SCHOOL NEWS Emails Sent this Week Year 7
BCG Immunisation information
Whole School
Blue Whale Online Challenge Warning
Year 9-12
Deadline extension letter for Vietnam trip 2018
Whole School
Reminder about FORMS Spring Party
Year 12 PARTS
Theatre Trip letter
Year 7
Religious Studies Trip letter
Year 7-11
Reminder re Life Skills Evening 9th May
Year 7
Trip to Greenwich Royal Observatory
Year 8/9
HPV Vaccination letters
Message from the Bursar Exiting from the school – new restriction: Please note that in the holidays a new “No Right Turn” restriction was introduced by the highways authorities, meaning that it is no longer permitted for vehicles exiting the School to turn right into the Old Chorleywood Road “layby” that runs alongside the cemetery. Given that we also operate a no right turn when exiting the school gates to assist in the flow and safety of traffic, this means that vehicles wishing to travel towards the M25 will need to do so by going down to the roundabout at the bottom and come back up. Car Park: Following complaints about vehicles driving at excessive speed, please can I remind parents and Sixth Form girls to drive with extreme caution at all times in the car park, paying due care to all other users, both pedestrians and drivers. ALL road markings must be adhered to at all times, particularly the no entry and give way signs in the middle of the car park. Please do not park in the coach bays or double park at any time. 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. 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 pupils. After School Hours Access: Whilst we are delighted to see parents in school, 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.
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SCHOOL NEWS History Trip to Berlin Recently Year 11 Historians visited the German capital city, Berlin. This trip consolidated our knowledge of Weimar, Nazi and Cold War Germany. It was an intensive four days where we learnt a lot, walked a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot, laughed a lot, walked a lot, learnt a lot and walked a lot. On our first day we were a little sleepy after the very early start, but this pain was eased by the relaxing experience of travelling through Terminal 5. On our first trip out of the hostel we ventured onto the Berlin U-Bahn and went for lunch in the sunshine followed by a brief visit through the Sony Centre to purchase some cinema tickets for the next night. We spent the afternoon in the German Historical Museum where we consolidated our knowledge of Weimar and Nazi Germany and tasted some of the best apple strudel in town (well, Mr Grogan did). In the evening we took a sunset trip up to the top of the glass dome of the Reichstag; the German Parliament. From here there are views across the city. It was designed by Norman Foster, the architect who designed the Gherkin, and you can walk on a platform all the way up, whilst listening to an audio tour along the way. At the very top we could lay back and look at the starts through the glassless space that serves to collect rainwater. This was a highlight of the trip for many of us. We ambled back, stopping for a few photos at the Brandenburg Gate and stopping for the obligatory Starbucks. On Saturday (Jess’s birthday) we took a trip out of the city to the Olympic Stadium, built by Hitler in 1936 for the Olympic Games. He used this event to show off Germany to its full potential and showcase what he deemed was the ‘master race’. Today, the sports and cultural life of modern Berlin would be unimaginable without the “Berlin Olympic Park” built for the 1936 Olympic Games. The stadium is the home of the soccer team Hertha BSC; Bundesliga games and international soccer matches take place here. We then journeyed to the north where we met our guide Phil and visited Sachsenhausen Concentration camp. This was a very bleak place. The camp was used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. In the camp we saw the cells where prisoners may have been put in solitary confinement and where there are now memorials to some of the more well-known inmates such as Martin Niemoller and read the story of men such as Georg Elser who had attempted to assassinate Hitler. We also saw reconstructions of barracks, which were horrifically crowded and went down into the camp kitchen. Phil told us insightful stories about the camps form money laundering to escape plans. The visit was moving and memorable, something that will stay with us throughout our lives.
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SCHOOL NEWS In the evening we lightened the mod with a relaxing evening at the cinema. We went to one of only five IMAX cinemas in Germany, however we missed the very start of the film and whilst most of us knew Beauty and the Beast very well we are not sure if Mr Grogan ever found out how the prince became a Beast‌! The next day we ventured into the city for an in-depth walking tour. We saw Museum Island, the Berliner Dom, the city’s largest church and Bebelplatz, the site of the infamous Nazi book-burnings in 1933. We also visited a world-famous chocolate shop where there were large-scale models of famous Berlin sights such as the Brandenburg Gate made out of chocolate. We stopped at Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous checkpoint along the Berlin Wall and even posed for a few photos with some handsome guards. We saw surviving sections of the Berlin Wall and learned a bit more about its history. We manged to get caught up in the Berlin half-marathon which saw us cheering on the runners- we were a great cheer squad! After lunch, we moved onto the memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which occupies a spot very close to the Brandenburg Gate and was erected after much debate over how to honour those murdered during the Holocaust. It consists of lots of differently sized concrete blocks and once you walk down into the middle of it, it is quite an eerie experience. We were unsure about whether this was a fitting tribute or not, but then could not agree what would be. Later in the afternoon we followed this up with a trip to the DDR Museum. This is an interactive museum all about life in East Germany when it was under Communist control. You could literally smell the coffee from the period and take a drive in a Trabi car. We had a gentle stroll home which included our obligatory photo stop with Marx and Engels. Our final day came all too quickly but in the short amount of time we had we managed to fit in a tiny bit of shopping before departing to the airport!. Thank you to Miss Simmonite, Mr Grogan and Mrs Burrows who accompanied us on this fascinating and enjoyable trip. You can see more photos of our trip here
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CHARITY NEWS
CHARITY NEWS Book your tickets here www.trybooking.co.uk/1154 CHARITY QUIZ NIGHT—FRIDAY 5th MAY We would like to invite you to an entertaining evening of challenging questions to raise money for the School Charity SPARKS. This event will be held in the New Mark Hall on Friday 5th May at 7:30pm. Tickets will cost £10 per head with a maximum team number of 8. You have the option to pay for your tickets on the door but please email one of the addresses below so that there is enough room for your party to attend. On arrival, there will be a bar and nibbles. Children are welcome to attend, however the questions are aimed at 16 year olds and over. For more information, please read the poster on the next page
We hope to see as many of you there as possible in order to raise as much money for a worthwhile cause! Elizabeth Whittaker and Mia Robertson mrober18@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk ewhitt18@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk
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FORMS NEWS
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FORMS NEWS
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OTHER INFORMATION Super Science course in Summer holidays at Super Camps A mysterious crime is committed which only a team of young Investigators can crack in ‘The Investigation’. Drawing on skills gleaned from science laboratories, police departments and medical experts, the team must collaborate to solve the mystery. The all-new course involves DNA analysis, chemical reactions, blood-spatter analysis, decoding – and much more. Can the young CSI squad bring the perpetrators to justice? Exclusively for children aged 8-12. Super Camps Bake Off and Cooking courses running here during 2017 This skills-based baking extravaganza features many of the challenges of a professional kitchen. The all-new recipes will allow children to take home two fantastic desserts every day, from Biscotti to Red Velvet Cupcakes. Skills to be learned and practised include lattice pastry making, chocolate shapes and curls, and the art of piping. Exclusively for children aged 8-14. Cooking course during the school holidays The all-new Super Camps Super Chef course will equip budding foodies with the essentials for a life of culinary cool. From making their own pasta, cooked up with their own pesto and béchamel sauces, to rolling our home-made pizzas, the course is the Grand Tour of tuck and taste. Culinary dexterity will feature strongly, ensuring that children don’t just take home delicious dishes, but retain the essentials of kitchen craft for years to come. Exclusively for children aged 9-16. Outdoor Adventure course in school holidays Are you ready to take on The Mission at Super Camps? Young adventurers will learn a variety of bushcraft survival techniques before tackling The Mission at the end of the week. Great new activities for 2017 include critter eating and tomahawk throwing. Exclusively for children aged 8-13.
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