Parent Newsletter 02/10/15

SENIOR SCHOOL NEWS UPDATE Friday 2nd October 2015 This Half Term at a Glance…

Absence Line unforeseen absence

Here are just a few important forthcoming

We expect a call before 8.30am on each day

events—for our full calendar, click www.royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk/media/ calendar Monday 5th October Harvest Festival Science Lecture NMH from 4.30pm (suitable for Year 10 and above, all parents welcome) Tuesday 6th October Cake Sale at Break

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 An unexplained absence will be followed up.

Mr Cox’s Surgery

Sunday 11th October WHOLE SCHOOL OPEN DAY—ATTENDANCE IS COMPULSORY FOR ALL GIRLS

Mr Cox, Assistant Headteacher, is making

Wednesday 14th October New Parent Social Evening (Years 7-10)

parents who would like to come and have

Thursday 15th October CEM Information Evening (Years 7-9)

question, issue or concern they may have.

Monday 19th October Life Skills Evening (Years 6-11)

School Office to make an appointment.

Friday 23rd October Senior School Prize Day (am)

Parents who would like a longer

Friday 23rd October—Sunday 1st November

arrange a mutually convenient time.

himself available every Friday from 8.15am and in periods 1 and 2 to meet with any a short chat over any Senior School Please contact Mrs Hamoudi in the chamoudi@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk appointment can, as ever, ring to

Half Term Friday 6th November FORMS Fireworks Night Sunday 8th November Remembrance Sunday Service

‘Cox’s Surgery’ appointments are intended for a quick discussion only, which may lead to a further meeting if the issue needs some further thought or investigation.

Tuesday 10th—Friday 13th November Sweet Charity at Watersmeet Theatre

Wednesday 25th November Year 7 Meet the Tutor

It i

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OTHER INFORMATION Emails Sent this week If you have not received any of the emails listed below, please contact Pippa Hopkins phopkins@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk Boarders

Exeat Weekend Collection Arrangements

Year 7

BCG Vaccination Information

Year 10

Controlled Assessment Calendar

All

Performing Arts Calendar of Events 2015-16

Year 13 English Lit.

Letter regarding Hamlet screening

All

Work Experience Plea for Help

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 Manager Mrs Bulow on bbulow@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk

Harvest Festival 2015 Here at RMS we will be celebrating Harvest during Chapel Assembly on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th October. I am writing to invite you to encourage your daughter to bring some Harvest gifts, if possible made up in a nice parcel, that she and the other girls can bring up during Assembly.

On Wednesday 7th October some of these gifts will be taken by Year 6 Cadogan House girls to people we know in the area who are old or infirm. All the other gifts will be donated to good causes such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, Herts Young Homeless Group and, this year for the first time, the Watford and Three Rivers Refugee Partnership.

The charities need anything that is non-perishable such as tinned products; tea, coffee and sugar; jam; packets of dried potatoes, rice or pasta; long life milk or dried milk; and also toiletries such as toilet paper, washing up liquid and shampoo, so please send these sort of goods as your Harvest gift. We will make sure all gifts find a worthwhile home. If you miss Assembly the girls can still bring gifts to the Chapel on Tuesday or on Wednesday morning. Any offerings are gratefully received.

Rev'd John Quill, RMS Chaplain

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OTHER INFORMATION

Science Lecture—Monday 5th October As part of our Science Department Lecture Series, we are delighted to welcome Professor Geoffrey L Smith FRS from the University of Cambridge who will be delivering a lecture entitled, “A career in science with viruses: plagues, pathogens and politics”.

After the talk Professor Smith would be happy to talk to interested students about the selection process that is run by the colleges at Cambridge The lecture will begin at 5.00pm, with the opportunity to ask Professor Smith questions before and after the talk.

Tea and coffee will be served from 4.30pm. All are welcome, but this will be of particular interest to students in Years 10 and above.

If you would like to attend this event with your daughter/ward or friends please email Pippa Hopkins at phopkins@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk with the number of people attending.

www.royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk www.twi er.com/RMSforGirls www.facebook.com/RMSforGirls

SCHOOL NEWS British Dressage National Finals September 2015 Here be Dragons is my Dad’s horse who I started riding the beginning of this year. Dragon and I registered as a combination with British Dressage at the beginning of June this year with the aim of qualifying for the Summer Regional Finals by the end of June which was quite a challenge due to the timescales. We managed the qualification in three tests. We then went to the Regionals at Sparsholt in Hampshire in July where we scored 71.38 and came third. We were then lucky to be one of the highest scorers across all the seven regional finals and were granted a wild card to the National Champs on September 18th at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry in Warwickshire. Twenty three from around 400 combinations at the different Regionals were invited to the Nationals.

As term had started practice and preparation was limited to after school. We had an early start as we travelled up on the day, so the first time we rode on the arena was the test itself. There is an arena warm up but as this was at 7.30 in the morning we had to miss it. These championships are the biggest competition I’ve ever done, and I was nervous on what to expect and knew that the standard would be high. The top dressage riders such as Charlotte Dujardin and their horses/ponies were there over the four days in varying classes which was exciting.

Dragon and I got ready and were in the warm up arena in good time where we worked together on shape, suppleness and impulsion. We practised some of the compulsory elements required in the test. All too soon it was our turn to enter the show arena and as we went through the arch our names came up on the big digital screen. There were three judges each at different points of the arena, so we saluted to each of them and then started. Approximately five minutes later we were finished. I was very happy with our test and delighted when our score came though at 65.75. We finished up 16th, having had a wonderful day and an experience never to be forgotten Sophie, Year 12

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SPORTS NEWS Golf Success for RMS

On Wednesday this week, Grace H, Sophie F & Gabriella R entered the inaugural Arkley GC Hertfordshire Schools Trophy. Competing against five teams of three from Mill Hill and two teams of three from Aldenham School the RMS girls won, and Sophie also won the Girls’ Longest Drive competition!

Well done!

This week’s School Sports Results Football

Multi Sports Festival

RMS vs St Margaret's Bushey Year 10 team lost 2-4

Congratulations to our Year 7 team who came 3rd overall

Hockey RMS vs Queenswood Year 9 lost 2-0

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COMMUNITY NEWS Three Rivers Youth Parliament The Youth Council is open to any young person aged 11-19 who lives or goes to school in the Three Rivers District, and is a great opportunity for young people in Three Rivers to have their say, discuss a wide range of topics, and really make a difference in their local community, while learning valuable decision making, debating, and organisational skills. Meetings are very friendly and relaxed, and new faces are always welcome.

The agenda for the meeting on the 6 October from 5:30pm till 7:00pm includes the Mill End Youth Club, where young people who are interested in attending can learn more about the project and help provide feedback and suggestions for the Club. In addition, a representative from Delete Blood Cancer will be speaking about stem cell donation and the organisation which helps increase the pool of lifesaving blood stem cell donors. Lastly, a speaker from Young Enterprise, an enterprise education charity who works to ensure the new generation of young people gets the skills they need to succeed in education, at work or in running their own firm.

The Youth Council, which meets three times per year and each meeting, is chaired by one of the young attendees on a rotating basis and topics for discussion at each meeting are decided on by attendees.

To be added to the mailing list, receive details of future meetings, help with transport or any other information, young people can contact 01923 776611 or enquiries@threerivers.gov.uk The Three Rivers District Council address: Penn Chamber, Three Rivers House, Northway, Rickmansworth, WD3 1RL.

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FORMS NEWS

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FORMS NEWS Sponsorship Opportunities FORMS provide fantastic social events which give the opportunity to raise funds used to enhance and enrich the learning within school. With this fundraising in mind, we are offering various sponsorship opportunities at our events this year. We would obviously like to offer our parents (or the companies parents work for) these opportunities before we approach external companies. If you would be interested in our sponsorship opportunities, please email forms.communications@gmail.com

Facebook and Twitter FORMS have arrived in the 21st century! Please “like” our Facebook page to find out details about our events and news from the community.

We can be found at https://www.facebook.com/FORMSRMS. Please be aware there are old Facebook accounts that will be deactivated. The Facebook page going forward has the BINGO event flyer as the first post.

You can also follow us at @FormsParents on Twitter Other dates for your diary: Please note the following event dates for this academic year so far:Fireworks - Friday 6 November (ticket on sale from Saturday 3 October) Christmas Fair - Saturday 28 November Burns Supper - Saturday 23 January Quiz Night - Saturday 5 March For information about Second Hand Uniform Sales, please contact our second hand uniform coordinator Abbey Robinson: Forms.rms2hu@gmail.com.

The next FORMS meeting is 7.30pm Wed 7th Oct. please contact Penny Smee at forms.secretary@gmail.com for details and directions.

www.royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk www.twi er.com/RMSforGirls www.facebook.com/RMSforGirls