Rhetoric Report

Rhetoric

Rhetoric Report 2018/19 & 2019/20

Life in Rhetoric throughout the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years was fast paced, full of wonderful achievements and dominated by outstanding contributions to the College community. As ever, students worked tirelessly on their post-18 preparations and A-Level examinations. This resulted in unprecedented success for St Edmund’s Sixth Form, especially in the UCAS process.

Rhetoric Leadership and Induction Days

Across both years we welcomed Elevate Education and ‘Learning for Earning’ to deliver our Rhetoric Leadership and Induction Days. These always take place early in the academic year to ensure that students are fully integrated into the Rhetoric community, and help them to

understand the responsibility that comes with being a senior student at the College. The day began with a study skills session for Rhetoric I, before Rhetoric II joined for group activities focussed on leadership, teambuilding, and trust. Rhetoric II were outstanding in how they assumed their new roles as Leaders of the College and the Rhetoric Tutor Team enjoyed joining in each activity.

Inviting external speakers to work with our students is a key part of the Rhetoric programme. We welcomed many visitors over the two years to address Rhetoric and engage them with a range of topics and issues. Some of the talk titles included: ‘Financial Management and Student Finance’, ‘Food for Life’, ‘Drug Problem: What Drug Problem’, ‘The Effects of Binge Drinking’, ‘My House in Damascus’, and ‘Risk and Consequences’, ‘Picturing War’, ‘Resilience’, ‘Art Behind Bars’, and ‘Healthy Mental Health’. There have been two speakers that had a particularly profound impact on both the students and tutors. The first of these was a talk titled ‘Out of the Ashes’, which was delivered by BAFTA Award Winner Annie Price. Annie spoke about her life, her resilience and her success after she suffered third degree burns to her face, arms and hands at just four weeks old. The second memorable talk was ‘When Failing is Not an Option’, a fascinating presentation delivered by Rachel Findler, who spoke about her life as a professional skier and the journey that she embarked on to become one of the world leaders in free skiing.

War Photographer Rick Findler spoke to students about his experiences capturing war and conflict all over the world. ‘Adventures of an Extreme Skiier’: Rachel Findler now works with students and businesses on how to adopt an athlete’s mindset to overcome challenge and adversity.

UCAS and Post-18 Applications

Once again, students worked very hard and diligently on their UCAS applications and the 2018-19 and 2019-20 years saw unprecedented success. Over the two years we had three successful applicants to the University of Cambridge, with high percentages of our students achieving places at Top 3 and Russell Group Universities. The St Edmund’s Day Interview Programme was also a great success across both years also, and through staff, visitors and Old Edmundians, we were able to provide various MMI Stations and subject-specific interviews for all of our candidates participating covering a host of disciplines. All students had at least two interviews and were then required to plan and present a presentation to their peers and a panel on a topic linked to the area of their application.

Activities Week – Rhetoric I

Each year, our Activities and Enrichment Week provision grows. In recent years we have attended the Official UCAS Convention at Anglia Ruskin University. We have also visited both the University of East Anglia and Royal Holloway University to have immersive tours and hear from their admissions teams and current students about their experiences of life at university. We also had visiting speakers to support students in drafting their personal statements and all students had the opportunity to meet with a member of the Rhetoric team to begin their personal statements ahead of Rhetoric II. Finally, in both years, we held the Rhetoric Enterprise Day Wadesmill Farm’s Art Shed Studios. The students’ brief was to think of a design for a recyclable or upcycled product that they would have to create a prototype of and then create a business, marketing and finance plan for. Students had to work together in advance of the day to develop a group and brand identity, and also source the materials they would need for the product. In both years, the response by students was extremely positive: they were selfmotivated and enthusiastic. Each group was made up of students with a range of skills and areas of interest. Students had to assign themselves roles within the group, which included a Project Manager, Product Designer, Marketing Manager and Finance Manager.

Re-launch of the Rhetoric New York Trip

In the 2018-19 academic year we relaunched the Rhetoric New York Trip with huge success. It quickly become a multidisciplinary trip and over the two years we had 65 students attend. Students studying Business, Economics, Media Studies, Design and Technology, Physics, Art, Geography, English Literature, History, Politics, Theology, Maths and the Extended Project

Qualification were all able to use the trip to enrich their A Level learning and, in some cases, use the trip to aid their understanding of case studies and even contribute to the A Level coursework. Of course, there was plenty of time for some important sightseeing, which included a Statue of Liberty River Cruise, a visit to the Top of the Rock, Ice Skating at Wollman Rink, a tour of Central Park and lots of time spent in the various unique areas of Manhattan. Alongside all of this we had a Tour of the Financial District, a visit to the United Nations and British Consulate, a Marketing Tour of Macy’s Department Store, an All-Access tour of Maddison Square Garden, an exclusive tour of the 911 Memorial Museum, a visit to the Design Museum and visits to Broadway and an NHL Game.

Covid-19, Lockdown and the Pre and Post Rhetoric Programmes

Covid-19 brought a very abrupt ending to the 2019-20 academic year for Rhetoric II, and led to the strangest of starts to Rhetoric for the incoming Rhetoric I. With the support of Academic Departments and the Rhetoric Team, we were able to deliver a Pre-Rhetoric and PostRhetoric Programme, all virtually, at the end of the 201920 academic year.

The Pre-Rhetoric Programme included Pre-A Level lessons to introduce students to their post-16 courses, as well as workshops and tutorials to prepare students for Life in Rhetoric. Throughout the programme there were plenty

of opportunities to speak with current Rhetoric students to understand the big differences between A Level and GCSE. Alongside all of the provision for students, six Pre Rhetoric Parent Workshops were delivered during the evenings, which ranged from ‘How to support your child in Rhetoric’ to ‘Understanding and preparing for the UCAS Process’.

The Post-Rhetoric Programme aimed to prepare Rhetoric II students for their next steps and their Post18 pathways. This included various workshops and tutorials to prepare them for university learning, student finance and budgeting and how to navigate results day. Alongside all of the provision for students, five Post Rhetoric Parent Workshops were delivered during the evenings, which ranged from ‘How to support your child Post-18 to ‘Student Finance and how to support your child with Budgeting at University’. Both programmes were a huge success and very well attended by students and parents.

Mr B Powell

Rhetoric Boarders

Congratulations to the Rhetoricians of Allen Hall and Garvey’s, who achieved some excellent results in their A Levels in recent years and became pillars of the St Edmund’s Boarding community. We bade farewell to two fantastic cohorts of Rhetoric boarders in 2019 and 2020, with many of the students having called Old Hall Green their home since Elements. Below are some photos of the class of 2019 looking splendid at their Rhetoric Boarders Leavers Dinner.

Leavers Destinations 2018/19

The Rhetoric Class of 2019 achieved some excellent ALevel results, with nearly 70% of examinations graded A*B and 35% graded A*-A. As you will see from the list below, students have gone on to study at a range of prestigious universities and been awarded places on highly competitive courses. Many others have progressed onto increasingly sought-after apprenticeship courses and training programmes. One student even left the College to enrol at flight school and achieve his lifelong dream of being an airline pilot! Of our 2019 leavers who progressed to university, nearly 60% managed to secure their first place choices and we are delighted with the outcomes for those who went through adjustment and clearing. “It is especially satisfying to see another year of excellent results and outstanding value added. Proof that these results are the fruits of our students’ ambition and hard work, supported by a committed body of staff in and outside the classroom. Studying at St Edmund’s really does make a difference, developing our students in mind, body and spirit.” Mr Paulo Duran, Headmaster

Student University Degree

Oluwaseun Akanni East Anglia Computer Science Chibuchi Amadi-Livingstone Buckingham Medicine Antonia Bartholomew Kent Business Management Alexia Boyd-Carpenter Bristol History of Art Claudia Brooker Queen Mary, London History Luca Buraglio Hertfordshire Music Composition/Technology for Film/Games Freya Burke Royal Holloway, London Business and management Joseph Canavan Imperial College London Physics Krishna-Rae Carpenter Loughborough Commercial Management / Quantity Surveying Oliver Carr Warwick Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) Tamsin Cass York English Literature and Philosophy Alfie Coates Houses of Parliament Employment Emily Connor Royal Holloway, London History Oliver Corley York Business Management George Demosthenous Nottingham Trent Business Management and Economics Giovanni Di Clemente Nottingham Mathematics Yi Ding UCL Project Management for Construction Frederick Frain Gap Year Siu Yu Fu Reading Building Surveying Yu Tung Fung Leeds Civil Engineering Molly Gardner Surrey International Event Management Millie George Edinburgh Interior Design Yuan Xu Han Queen Mary, London Computer Science

Andreas Harkos Reading Quantity Surveying Alexander Holden Leeds Beckett Physical Activity, Exercise and Health Andrew Jonscher Reading Geography Caitlin Keith Nottingham Trent Business Management and Human Resources Harrison Kelly Bachelor of Business Administration Pearson College London Kirsty Kingdon West of England Quantity Surveying/Commercial Management Ashleigh Lule Medway Pharmacy Shaohan Luo Westminster Business Management and Marketing Shaojun Luo Edinburgh Psychology Liming Ma Warwick Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Laura Madden Royal Holloway, London Criminology and Sociology Fionnuala Marshall Edinburgh Mathematics Gloria Mugabi Birmingham English Cara Murphy Gap Year Anthony Nlewedum Nottingham Trent Business Management and Economics Remmi Page Royal Holloway, London Psychology Louis Penner Gap Year Christopher Philippou Nottingham Trent Law Jack Ratledge Private Sector Employment – Trainee Finance Scheme Jack Rydqvist Manchester Metropolitan Biomedical Sciences Taymen Sargusingh Bath Economics Monet Scrimali Instituto Maragoni Fashion Design Wenjia Shan Queen Mary, London Mathematics with Finance and Accounting Jake Sherlock St Mary's, Twickenham Primary Education with QTS Patrick Sherlock Leeds Geography Joshua Simmons Bath Spa Film, Television and Digital Production Aryaman Solanki Cambridge English Richard Stewart Cardiff Environmental Science

Teddy Sumsion Warwick Mathematics Sze Hon Tam West of England Interior Design Shenghui Tao King's College London Economics and Management Ella Taylor GSK Apprenticeship Biomedical Science

Willem van de Ven HAN (Netherlands) Life Sciences Purada Vongnum Imperial College London Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry Chi Him Wai Royal Holloway Philosophy Haocheng Wang UCL Psychology Ella Wansell Loughborough Sport (Elite Athlete Pathway) Henry Warburton London Apprenticeship Events Management Alexander Watts UCL History Charlie Winfield easyJet Pilot Training Programme Stephanie Winfield Nottingham Trent Primary Education (Elite Netball Programme) Axel Wise Reading Computer Science Yiheng Xu UCL Chemistry Yunyue Yang King's College London Biomedical Sciences Ruidi Zhu Imperial College London Physics Jiayan Zhuang Bath Economics Yixing Zhuang UCL Economics and Statistics

Leavers Destinations 2019/20

The Rhetoric Class of 2020 should be immensely proud of their achievements, and the stellar way in which they dealt with the cancellation of their exams and challenging rollout of their results. Following on from their outstanding GCSE results in 2018, the 2020 cohort achieved St Edmund’s best ever set of A Level results, with 78% of awarded grades being A*-B and a wonderful 49% A*-A. As many as 83% of students achieved a place at their first choice university. We were delighted that the government announced they would be using ‘centre assessment grades’ to award students their A-Level results, and not the dreaded algorithm that had caused so much stress and anxiety for the students as they prepared to confirm their university choices. The College teachers took immense care and diligence in awarding these grades to the students that they know so well, therefore, the ‘CAGs’ as they came to be known, were undoubtedly the fairest and most accurate reflection of the students’ academic ability. “Having joined St Edmund’s as Headmaster last September this was my first set of leavers, and after all we have been through together this year, they will always have a special place in my heart. Watching the machinations of the exam boards and the government over the last week or two it is fair to say that we were braced for bad news, so the fact that, in spite of everything, our leavers have managed to produce the best set of A Level results we have ever had is quite extraordinary. I am deeply proud of them all.” Mr Matthew Mostyn, Headmaster

Student University Degree

Finley Arbon-Donovan Lancaster Physics Kathleen Barrett Leeds International Business and Marketing Jonathan Belt East Anglia Computing Science Isobel Birchall Leeds Fashion Design Lucy Boyling Leeds Music and Music Psychology Joshua Brody Reading Investment and Finance in Property Ethan Brooks-Skeet York History and Philosophy Joseph Brooks-Skeet Loughborough Construction Engineering

Imogen Burton Exeter Drama James Byrne Sheffield Bioengineering Eyshan Carpenter Reading Quantity Surveying Leo Carr Exeter Politics and Sociology Joshua Chapman Gap Year Rebecca Chappell Exeter Geography Hillary Cheung University of Arts London Magazine Journalism and Publishing Lara Chick Durham Theology and Religion Robert Cook Coventry Business Management and Leadership Maximilian Cooper Liverpool Geography Luis Culverhouse Gap Year Max Davies Leeds International Relations

Michael Dietel Westminster Computer Science Courtney Ferns Hertfordshire Sport and Exercise Science Max Fitzpatrick Nottingham Trent Business Management and Entrepreneurship Sum Tung Fung Royal Holloway, London Law with Criminology Elizabeth Gardner Exeter Geography Thomas Gaughan Lancaster Computer Science Nioka Gordon Kent Media Studies

Edward Hanley Gap Year William Harding Ravensbourne, London Music and Sound Design Edward Hartley Imperial College London Computing (AI and Machine Learning) Isabelle Hellstedt Solent (Southampton) Journalism Shengyi Hu Imperial College London Materials Science and Engineering Maddie Hudson-Clements Met Film School Screen Acting Chikoye Kasolo Exeter Business Freddie Knight Apprenticeship Oliver Knipe Employment Ching Yau Kwok University of Hong Kong Pharmacy Kate Lane Reading Psychology Saif Latifi King's College London Computer Science with a Year in Industry Olya Linkina Manchester Economics Oliver Luck Reading Investment and Finance in Property Oliver Martin Durham History Zak Martin Newcastle Computer Science Kara Michaelson Bath Psychology (with placement) Max McMullan 6th Form College N/A Amber Mustafa Lincoln Creative Advertising Dominic Negri Nottingham Trent Product Design Charles O'Connor Royal Holloway, London Film, Television and Digital Production Chineye Odo Leicester Medicine Freddie Roberts Reading Investment and Finance in Property William Roberts York Economics

Rishi Sanganee Newcastle Chemistry Stella Schulte Bedfordshire Education with Psychology

Emma Scott East Anglia Media Studies Mairead Sheehy Bristol Economics Elizabeth Sherlock Manchester Geography Jinchen Shi Queen Mary Business Management Caitlin Stevens Liverpool Communication and Media Nada Tadros Leicester Medicine

Ellis Taverner-Burns Gap Year Yuqi Wang Westminster Fine Art Yinghao Wen Lancaster Business Management Catherine White Durham Modern Languages and Cultures Emily Wilson City, University of London Psychology Guanghou Zhao Queen Mary Pure Maths