RMS Edge 2019-20

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2019-20

RMSEdge

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RMSEdge RMS Edge is a personalised programme designed to equip RMS Sixth Formers with the skills, both academic and personal, and the “can do” attitude that will enable them to forge a successful future both in further education and in the workplace.

Girls study 3-4 subjects.

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A Levels Cambridge Pre-U Applied A Levels BTECs

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Over 30 post-16 subjects:

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Girls can choose to also study:

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An EPQ RMS choices All girls attend: Sport and welfare classes The RMS Lecture Programme

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Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Performing Arts productions Debating Young Enterprise Model United Nations Volunteering Army Cadet Force

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RMS Edge combines the academic core (three or four subjects chosen from the 32 currently on offer) with a choice of nonexamined enrichment subjects, sporting options, lecture programme and opportunities for leadership.

The programme is designed to provide the high quality, all-round education so prized by both universities and employers, that will equip our students with the skills and traits to enable them to approach every opportunity with confidence, energy and success.

Sixth Form Leadership Team School Prefects School Ambassadors Sports captaincy House leaders Mentors

LEAD Employability course Dedicated UCAS and Careers team:

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Head of Careers Head of UCAS Oxbridge co-ordinator Medics co-ordinator Vocational co-ordinator Portfolio Advisor

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RMS Choices 2019/2020 RMS Sixth Formers are given the opportunity to study beyond their chosen academic subject with a series of choices that will engage, inspire and challenge them to increase their knowledge in a wide range of subjects.

Leadership Skills – Mrs Freeman Learn about key leadership qualities and get involved in these practical workshops. We will look at how to manage change, how to run effective meetings, how to interview and prepare for interviews, how to bring together a team by looking at different types of personalities and how to get the best out of your team. These sessions will look at best practice, but expect to practise the techniques and be fully involved within the sessions.

Personal Finance – Mrs Jaitley Learn how to manage your finances and ensure you are fully prepared for making the most of your money. You will cover the following; Banking, Bills, Borrowing, Budgeting, Debt, Ethical Consumerism, ID Fraud, Being The Money Saving Expert, Insurance, Wages.

Confident cooking for your future – Mrs Hardman This is a ten week practical cookery course to build your skills and confidence in making tasty savoury and sweet dishes. These will include curry, pizzas/calzones, meat dishes, cooking with eggs, fish, pasta, vegan dishes and decorated cakes for a Sixth Form charity cake sale.

ICT for business – Mr Lilley Want to learn some ICT skills you can apply to your future? Then this course is for you. It will cover: website development, spreadsheet modelling, digital graphics, databases, 2D/3D digital modelling, beginner’s computer programming, GCSE standard computer programming, mobile app development, cyber security and how a computer actually works.

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RMS Choices 2019/2020 Physics Research in Schools – Mrs Higgs These sessions will enable students to access top level scientific data, collaborate with scientists around the globe, process information and develop innovative experimental ideas. The aim is for students to collaborate in order to complete a research project from start to finish to gain a greater understanding of how real scientific data is used to make conclusions and evaluations.

Starting Philosophy – Mr Barr Philosophy literally means the “love of wisdom”; this course provides an introduction to some of the great minds of the past as well as giving you the opportunity to consider and discuss complex ethical issues. The sessions are planned to be challenging and informative, and aim to assist students to understand fundamental truths about their own lives and the world around them. Sessions rely heavily on member participation and will touch on the five traditional areas of Philosophy: ethics (the study of moral behaviour), aesthetics (the study of beauty), logic (the study of reasoning), epistemology (the study of knowledge) and metaphysics (the study of the immaterial). The course is open to everyone with an interest in both philosophical theory and contemporary moral issues, although is particularly well suited to those studying Government and Politics, History, Religious Studies and Economics.

Oxbridge Entry – Mrs Reeve A successful application to Oxford or Cambridge requires a great deal more than mere academic excellence, and time and time again, we have found that meticulous preparation is key. Following on from the “Think About It” sessions, this course will look at various aspects of the application process itself from choosing a course and college to preparing for entrance tests and interviews. We will explore different ways of developing your subject knowledge and keeping abreast of current developments and practise the more challenging thought processes that are a way of life for an Oxbridge student. If you have the sort of academic profile that means Oxbridge might be the right place for you (usually a minimum of 6 GCSEs at grades 9, 8 or A*) come along. Attendance on the course does not commit you to an application, but if you do decide to go for it, you will be in a considerably better position if you have prepared thoroughly!

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RMS Choices 2019/2020 Current Affairs – Miss Warr This option allows students to explore current affairs through research and debate. The course will offer students the opportunity to delve deeper into the most important social, economic, political and cultural developments of our time and will encourage them to formulate their own informed opinions on matters at a variety of scales. In a globalised world, where news spreads quickly and ‘fake news’ is an increasing issue, students will be required to think objectively about the information presented to them by the mainstream media and as such will develop important key skills of analysis and evaluation.

Feminist theory and culture – Mr Carson Do you want to know a little more about Judith Butler’s ‘Gender Trouble’ and Donna Haraway’s cyberfeminism? Or maybe you’d like to discuss the Riot Grrrl movement of the 1990s, or Noelle Stevenson’s “Lumberjanes” as an example of “girls doing for girls”, and then consider whether or not this is just what the world needs? Where is feminism at and where did it come from? What was first wave feminism, and what’s third wave feminism? Do we even need to “seriously examine the ways women receive popular culture, [because] so much culture is made by and for men”? We’ll consider feminist thinking and feminist culture, talk high brow about popular culture and perhaps show poor taste about high art. It’ll be fun.

Feminism’s always fun.

Maths for your A Levels – Miss Durnford During the course we will look at how Mathematical skills are needed in other A level subjects. The content of the course can be tailored to those who choose it. The aim is to use examples from your courses. However, it could include skills for Geography, Physics, Biology, Business studies, Design Technology and Psychology.

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RMS Lectures RMS lectures provide an opportunity for Sixth Formers to learn more about issues in the world around them that may not be directly linked to subjects they are studying. In addition to lectures hosted at RMS, our students are also invited to attend lectures at Merchant Taylors’ School. The below is not an exhaustive list and students themselves may suggest topics and speakers that would be of interest.

Michael Griffin Michael Griffin is an educator, keynote speaker, author, conductor and pianist. In his lecture, he will examine how some students achieve so much more than others. Michael Griffin’s compelling and inspirational presentation synthesises the factors that most impact successful learning and achievement. Presented in an engaging student-friendly manner, the talk aims to provide students with a clear direction for intrinsically motivated, confident, enjoyable, and ultimately more successful, learning. The core message is one of self-determination; that students must and can take ultimate responsibility for learning, which begins with a can-do growth mindset.

Anthony Bennett

After returning from a school trip to Disneyland Paris in 2006, Anthony fell extremely ill and was rushed to his local hospital, where his family was told his only chance of survival was to be placed on an ECMO life support machine. During a seven- week stay in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, he had to re-learn the very basic functions, using his hand-eye coordination, breathing without the aid of machines and also using his voice and learning to walk again. Anthony then went on to make a full recovery, and subsquently helped Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity secure a £7.5m charity partnership, with the funds going towards a brand new wing at the children’s hospital. In recent years Anthony was voted one of the happiest people in the UK by the Independent on Sunday in their ‘Happy List’ for the work he carries out to help enrich the lives of others.

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RMS Lectures

Erwin James

Erwin James Monahan is a convicted murderer and has been a contributor and columnist for The Guardian since 1998, writing under the name "Erwin James". From 2000 he wrote a regular column about prison life entitled A Life Inside, the first column of its kind in the history of British journalism. He has continued to write for the national press and is the editor-in-chief of Inside Time, a national newspaper in the UK for people in prison, as well as doing charity work, since his release. While he was in prison he did not receive fees for his articles; instead these were paid to a charity, the Prisoners' Advice Service, which had helped him.

Simon Parker Simon Parker is a British travel writer, broadcast journalist and public speaker. Basically, if it involves travel, intriguing people and an untold story, then he’s interested. He has reported on product shortages in Venezuela, the ‘migrant crisis’ in Greece, social inequality in the barrios of Northern Colombia and climate change in the high Andes and Svalbard. He has paraglided solo through the Andes, hiked up Bali’s highest volcanoes and driven a rickshaw the length of India. Simon has reported from over 100 countries in the past decade, and between March 20th and July 30th 2016 he embarked on his toughest assignment to date – to sail and cycle from China to London in 133 days

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RMS Lectures Alex Holmes Alex was bullied at school and as a result he has made it his mission in life to make sure this doesn't happen to others as the founder of a national peer support scheme, student 'Anti-Bullying Ambassadors'.

In 2017 he was made a Queen's Young Leader for his work in tackling bullying. A year later he was announced as one of “Forbes 30 Under 30”, an annual encyclopaedia of ‘the brightest entrepreneurs, innovators and game-changers under the age of 30 who are transforming business as usual and changing the world.’

Alex runs interactive workshops, speeches and assemblies exploring the issue of bullying and also speaks about online abuse, cyber bullying and internet safety, sitting on a number of global safety & advisory boards and councils. He is also a founding member of Prince William's The Royal Foundation Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying. Alex was named on the Independent on Sunday's Happy List as one of the 100 people who make Britain a happier place to live.

Angela Ferreira Angela Ferreira is an inspirational and motivational ‘tough love’ speaker. Born in Birmingham to working class immigrant Caribbean parents, she decided at a young age that she wanted to be a journalist despite the objections of her school and the lack of any connections in the field or role models on TV or in print media. After getting a few articles printed and working for a local radio station, Angela joined the BBC and has worked steadily in media ever since.

She is experienced across the entire spectrum of television production; as a researcher, BBC Drama script editor, single and multi-camera director, producer and executive producer. Angela is passionate about young people achieving their full potential and going beyond the boundaries of whatever may be limiting their imaginations, creativity and expectations.

As a youth mentor and with her interest in diversity issues and women in the workplace, Angela is in frequent demand as speaker, and has many entertaining stories to tell of the reality of life with celebrities.She speaks with authority of the resilience and adaptability that is needed for changing work opportunities today.

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RMS Wellbeing It is vitally important to us that Sixth Formers balance their academic study and other commitments with time for physical exercise. They are able to access a wide range of options which include: Netball, Hockey, Rugby, Football, Lacrosse, Water-based activities, Basketball, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Badminton, Trampolining, Fitness, Aerobics, Pilates, Yoga, Zumba, Cheerleading, Archery, Golf.

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RMS Co-curricular options A broad co-curricular programme is the hallmark of an RMS education and this remains the case for our Sixth Formers. Options differ from those available lower down the school, and we believe that every student wil ďŹ nd something to suit them. By developing a wide range of skills which go beyond academic study, our students become conďŹ dent young women with the talents they need in the world of work.

Clubs and activities include: STEM, School Drill, Choirs and Orchestras, First Aid, ACF, Sixth Form Debating Society, Cookery for University, Community Arts, Flash, Philosophy, Charity Fundraising, National Council for Young Women, Chinese Dancing, Reading Groups, Anatomy, MedVetDent Society, Outdoor International Games, Cipher Challenge, School Magazine, Young Enterprise, Model United Nations, GeogSoc Lectures.

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RMS Futures The Careers Department assists Sixth Form students with career and university guidance by providing one to one interviews and up to date resources to support the important decisions that you will have to make during your Sixth Form years.

Throughout the Sixth Form you will be supported by the following people: Mrs Clare Freeman, Head of Sixth Form Mrs Helen Roberts, Assistant Head of Sixth Form 12 dedicated and experienced tutors Head of Careers Oxbridge Co-ordinator Medics Co-ordinator Vocational Course Advisor Portfolio Advisor for the Creative Arts

LEAD (Listen, Enable, Advise, Drive) As a school, we are very conscious of the need to prepare our students for an increasingly competitive job market. With this in mind we have developed the LEAD programme (Listen, Enable, Advise, Drive), a bespoke employability course for Year 12, which is a programme of sessions to help prepare students for their future beyond RMS. Sessions are aimed at helping them to maximise their chances of success in whichever career path they choose. These will include workshops to help the them understand the undergraduate employment market, how to develop their skills and profile for potential employers, and how to succeed at interview. There will also be sessions looking at longer term employability skills such as networking and developing a personal brand. We are very fortunate to have a team of external advisors who are familiar with the demands of graduate recruitment, leaders from a range of fields, and female role models, running the different parts of the course.

Extended Project Qualification The EPQ allows each student to undertake a self-directed and self-motivated project on any topic of their choosing. Within this process creativity is encouraged and this is a superb opportunity to broaden your own knowledge and passion within an area of interest. Your project question can be directly linked to one of your A Levels but should go beyond the specification. The finished product can either be a 5,000 word essay or an artefact (physical outcome). Alongside your product you will complete a logbook and present your findings to an audience at the end of the process. The EPQ is supported by universities and some even include the EPQ as part of an offer. It is worth 28 UCAS points.

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RMS girls think differently www.RMSforgirls.org.uk @RMSSixthForm admissions@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk 01923 725354 The Royal Masonic School for Girls Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire WD3 4HF 01923 773168