Royal High School Bath Sixth Form | Tripos Award | Information Booklet

Sixth Form

Tripos Award

Inquisitive minds raising their game Girls making their mark

Contents Introduction What is the Tripos?

Why do we have it?

What do you gain from achieving it?

What do you have to do to achieve it?

Curiositas Civitas Conatus

The Tripos Process Recording your Tripos experience Deciding what to do – The Proposal Reviewing your experience – Midpoint Review Reflecting on your experience – Post Hoc Reflection Deadlines

After Tripos The Tripos Evening Using your Tripos experience in the UCAS process

The Tripos is a self-accredited award created exclusively for the Sixth Form at the Royal High School Bath. It is an award unique to the Sixth Form that aims to develop skills and experience outside the classroom environment.

The term Tripos is taken from Cambridge University, who use the term to denote the three achievements necessary to graduate and prepare students for life beyond academic study. This notion is firmly embedded in the Royal High School Tripos with the focus being on experience and development outside the classroom which serves as preparation for university study and future professional success.

The Tripos award consists of three elements: Curiositas – aims to develop a curiosity and pursuit of knowledge Civitas – aims to develop a sense of service and commitment to a cause beyond yourself Conatus – aims to develop a sense of challenge and endeavour to reach beyond their grasp For students to achieve the Tripos award they must successfully complete all three elements.

Why do we have it?

We believe that a student’s Sixth Form experience should be about more than just the academic subjects you study.

Whilst gaining high grades and academic success are important, they do not prepare you fully for the challenges of university study and the professional workplace.

We want to develop inquisitive young women who are life-long learners and understand that the pursuit of knowledge has inherent value. We want to develop selfless young women who value service and are committed to causes greater than themselves. Finally, we want to develop confident young women who are undaunted in the face of challenge and have the resilience to persevere despite setbacks or failure.

Our belief in these characteristics is why we created the Tripos. We value these traits which is why we want to reward them. The award offers our students the opportunity to pursue and develop in each of these ways but, importantly, rewards them for it.

Our belief is that those who successfully complete the award will have gained new intellectual insight into an area of interest, dedicated to a cause beyond themselves and pushed beyond what they thought they were capable of.

What do you gain from achieving it?

The Tripos is an award that you achieve over the course of your time in the Sixth Form. Those who successfully complete the award are presented with a certificate to evidence their achievement and are invited to a special celebration evening.

We believe the process and journey of achieving the award is just as important as the outcome itself and the experience and knowledge gained.

We know that leading universities and companies increasingly want young people with the necessary skills to navigate and excel in high performing academic and professional environments. The undertaking and completion of the Tripos provides students with the opportunity to develop and showcase the skills and experience they have acquired to prospective universities and employers. In an increasingly competitive and crowded field, we want our student’s personal statement, CV and interview to stand out and set themselves apart from the rest.

What do you have to do to achieve it?

Included overleaf are the criteria for each of three elements of the Tripos. To obtain the award in Year 13 you must have successfully met the criteria of each of the three elements.

The Tripos criteria should be viewed as enabling and not restrictive. The criteria outlined is the minimum expected requirement to meet the necessary standard of the award and you are encouraged to go beyond them. Ultimately, what you gain from the Tripos experience will be reflected by the amount of time and effort you put in.

To help chart the progress of your Tripos journey we ask that you complete reflections at three points in the process – at the start, midway and afterwards. The Tripos is designed to help develop traits which we feel are important and are a continuation of the six Royal High School Learner Qualities cultivated in the Senior School. We want to see evidence that you have reflected on your Tripos choices and experiences and that you have embodied these Learner Qualities. The process of reflection is similar to the Duke of Edinburgh Log and the CAS system of the International Baccalaureate and is completed through forms on Firefly.

Curiositas Based on the Latin word for curiosity and inquisitiveness, this element aims to foster an intellectual interest in the world that extends beyond your chosen academic subjects and to develop an appreciation that knowledge has in itself an inherent value.

The more we know and understand about the world, the better prepared we are to change it.

To fulfil the Curiositas element, you must meet one of the following: Completion of the EPQ Completion of the EE/IA as part of the IB Completion of a 1,500 word essay on a subject of your choice*

* Essay titles must be submitted in advance to Mr Lacey for approval. Essay titles should take the form of a question and should involve the investigation and research of a particular area. They may challenge a conventional view, re-evaluate a theory, event or person, or consider something in a new or different light, ultimately showing original and independent thinking. The shorter 1,500 word essays should be researched, written and referenced to the same academic standard and rigour as an EPQ or piece of A Level Coursework. Essays which do not meet the required standard, will not meet the criteria.

Civitas The Civitas element aims to instil the value of commitment to a cause beyond yourself. Based on the Latin word for citizenship, common purpose and having a shared responsibility, it aims to nurture the importance of service to our community by giving time to a cause at a school, local or national level. Dedicating time to helping others not only helps us develop but is also shown to improve our sense of well being.

To fulfil the Civitas element you must meet one of the following: Completion of 15 hours of volunteering at a charity or organisation* Completion of the volunteering element of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Completion of a service project as part of the IB CAS Undertaking a role as Mentor to the Senior School Undertaking a role as a Foreign Language Leader Undertaking a role as a Sports Leader Undertaking a role as a Sixth Form Prefect To successfully meet the Civitas Criteria, evidence must be provided that you fulfilled the necessary time quotient of 15 hours and that in the time committed you fulfilled your role to the expected standard. Evidence of the hours committed and your performance should be sought from either a teacher if the role is within school or from a supervisor if the volunteering is outside school.

* Work experience at a business does not satisfy the Civitas criteria; the spirit of this element lies in service to a greater good and in helping others.

Conatus The Conatus element requires you to challenge yourself, to push yourself outside your comfort zone and attempt something you have never achieved before. Based on the Latin word for striving, effort and endeavour, it requires you to set yourself a goal and attempt something difficult. The Conatus element aims to develop your perseverance and resilience.

The nature of the challenge is up to you: it does not have to be physical or academic.

Your choice of challenge will need to be pre-approved, but below are some ideas of a goal you could set yourself.

To fulfil the Conatus element you should aim to achieve one of the following: Completion of a physical challenge (running a 10k or half marathon) Completion of the physical or skills element of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Organising a fund raising event for a specific charity Setting up and running a school club successfully Taking part in the Model United Nations Entering a competition (speaking, writing, creative) Organising an event in school Producing the School Newspaper Completion of an activity project as part of the IB CAS While you are expected to make every effort to complete your challenge and achieve your goal, it is not a necessity to do so to fulfil the Conatus criteria. The spirit of this element is that you attempt something that is genuinely challenging to you and fully strive to complete it. Even if you do not successfully complete your challenge, but can illustrate, through reflection and self-evaluation, what you have learnt from the experience and how you have developed through the process, you will fulfil the criteria.

If there is something you would like to be considered in order to obtain the award, but is not included in the criteria for the three elements below, please speak to Mr Lacey.

Recording your Tripos Experience The pursuit of the Tripos award is designed to develop particular skills and characteristics, which follow on from the Royal High Learner Qualities embedded in the Senior School Curriculum.

The evidence that you have met the Tripos criteria and Learner Qualities will be provided through reflections on each of your three elements.

For each element of the Tripos, you will be required to complete three reflections on Firefly; a Proposal, a Midpoint review and a Post Hoc Evaluation. In each of your reflections, we will expect to see evidence of how you have demonstrated some of the following six Learner Qualities of the Tripos. Not every Learner Quality will be relevant to every element of the Tripos, but you must show evidence of all of them all through the range of experiences you have undertaken. You should aim to reference each Learner Quality 2-3 times across your reflections.

Learner Qualities: •

Demonstrated braveness through undertaking a challenge and persevering

•

Demonstrated reflection through adapting, developing and improving your Tripos experiences

•

Demonstrated inquisitiveness through your ability to research, investigate and explore new topics, ideas and contexts

•

Demonstrated collaboration through discussing and working with others

•

Demonstrated kindness through listening, understanding others and empathising

•

Demonstrated sparkiness through your ability to problem solve, innovate and collect new ideas

For examples of how to demonstrate each of the six Learner Qualities in your reflections refer to the examples on the Tripos Firefly pages. What is important is that throughout your Tripos experience you demonstrate and show how you have used and developed each of these Learner Qualities.

Deciding what to do – The Proposal Form We want you to carefully select your Tripos role and experiences.

Before you write your proposal, you should spend some time thinking about your interests, skills, strengths and areas you would like to develop during your time in the Sixth Form. You may also wish to consider which of the RHS Learner Qualities you feel you are stronger at and which you are weaker at as a guide and way of focussing your ideas.

Think in particular about areas you would like to develop, if you are not sure discuss with your tutor or another teacher. Would you like to develop: your writing ability? Your fitness? Your artistic ability? Working with others? Being creative? Being a good listener?

Being a better debater? Managing a project? Organising an event? No matter what your goal or area that you wish to develop, in your proposal you should not only show that you have thought about what you are going to do but also you should explain your rationale for why you have selected that topic for your Curiositas, that role for your Civitas and that challenge for your Conatus.

Curiositas To complete this form, we are looking for evidence of how you arrived at your chosen Curiositas topic and why you have decided on that topic. You may be able to utilise and copy parts of what you have already written in your Candidate Proposal and Planning Review of your EPQ Log. For those competing the EE you may be able to utilise and copy parts of what you have already written in your EE/RRS or EE/RPPF. In the next steps section, we want to know what you will be doing to advance your Curiositas element onwards, this may include: continuing your research into the area and beginning to plan out your essay.

Civitas We are looking for evidence of how you arrived at your chosen Civitas role and why you have decided on that role. For IB students, you may be able to copy parts of what you have already written in your CAS records for your Service Project.

In the next steps section, we want to know what you will be doing to advance your Civitas role onwards, this may include: applying for your role or volunteering position, beginning the role or continuing to research a role that is suitable.

Conatus We are looking for evidence of how you arrived at your chosen Conatus Challenge and why you have decided on that challenge. For IB students, you may be able to copy parts of what you have already written in your CAS records for your Creativity or Activity Projects.

In the next steps section, we want to know what you will be doing to advance your Conatus Challenge onwards, this may include: beginning to prepare, organise or research how you will complete it.

Reviewing your experience – Midpoint Review The Midpoint review is the second reflection you are expected to complete during the Tripos process. As the title suggests this should only be completed once you are midway through your essay, role and challenge. The purpose of this reflection at the midpoint is for you to assess how things are going. You may wish to read back through your proposal and compare your current situation to reflect on how much each element is going to plan. Try to include in your reflection successes of the process so far, if things are going to plan, what is going well? Why are they going well? What preparation and organisation did you do to ensure this?

Equally also try to include in your reflection challenges or problems you have faced, if things are not going to plan, why not? What obstacles have you come up against?

How did you overcome them? What alternative arrangement or solutions have you found? Have you had to adapt or show persistence and resilience in pursing your Tripos? If you have had to work or organise with others to ensure your Tripos is on track, how successful has that been?

Like the other reflections, we expect to see evidence of how you have demonstrated some of the six Learner Qualities of the Tripos. As noted before not every Learner Quality will be relevant to every element of the Tripos, but you must show evidence of all of them all through the range of experiences you have undertaken. You may wish to reflect on what skills or learner qualities you think you are developing? How do you know? What examples can you give?

Curiositas

We are looking for evidence of how you are developing the Learner Qualities and other skills as you complete your Curiositas essay. You may be able to utilise and copy parts of what you have already written in your Midpoint Review of your EPQ Log. For those competing the EE you may be able to utilise and copy parts of what you have already written in your EE/RRS or EE/RPPF. In the next steps section, we want to know what you will be doing to ensure completion of Curiositas essay, this may include: what parts do you still need to do? Do you need to do further research, seek further guidance or support? What challenges or obstacles do you need to overcome?

Civitas

We are looking for evidence of how you are developing the Learner Qualities and other skills as you fulfill your Civitas role. For IB students, you may be able to copy parts of what you have already written in your CAS records for your Service Project.

In the next steps section, we want to know what you will be doing to advance your Civitas role onwards towards completion, this may include: ensuring you continue to volunteer regularly, attend the necessary sessions, rearrange sessions you may have missed, find alternative arrangements.

Conatus

We are looking for evidence of how you are developing the Learner Qualities and other skills as you fulfil your Conatus challenge. For IB students, you may be able to copy parts of what you have already written in your CAS records for your Creativity or Activity Projects.

In the next steps section, we want to know what you will be doing to advance your Conatus Challenge onwards towards completion, this may include: do you need to do further training or preparation? Seek further guidance or support? What challenges or obstacles do you need to overcome?

Reflecting on your experience – Post Hoc Reflection The Post Hoc reflection is the third and final reflection you are expected to complete during the Tripos process. As the title suggest this should only be completed once you have submitted and completed your essay, role and challenge. The purpose of this reflection is for you to evaluate your Tripos experience as a whole and to see what went well and what you have gained that you will apply to your life in the future.

You may wish to read back through your proposal and Midpoint Review to compare the outcome with what you had planned and how the process turned out.

Ensure in your overall reflection, you evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your performance in each element of the Tripos. Include successes of the Tripos experience, this may include: did each element of your Tripos go to plan? Why was that? What preparation and organisation did you to ensure this? What did you learn that will be valuable for the future?

Equally also try to include in your evaluation challenges you faced or weaknesses of your process. If things did not go to plan, why not? What problems or obstacles did you struggle to overcome? What mistakes did you make that you have learnt from that mean you will do things differently next time? Were there any unexpected lessons from the experience?

Combined with the other reflections we expect to see evidence of how you have demonstrated all of the six Learner Qualities of the Tripos. You must have shown evidence of all of them through the three elements you have undertaken. In reflecting on what you have gained from the Tripos experience you may wish to state which Learner Qualities you think you have particularly developed and examples you can provide to illustrate this.

The Tripos Award: Timeline and Deadlines Action

Deadline

Students decide what they are going to do for each element of the Tripos, begin the initial stages of their EPQ, EE etc.

Autumn/Winter 2021

Students complete and submit their Proposal Form on Firefly for each element of the Tripos, stating what they are going to do and how they arrived at that decision.

Friday 11 February 2022

Students undertake their Tripos activities and experiences, continue to work on their EPQs, EE etc.

Spring 2022

Students complete their Midpoint Review, reflecting on their Tripos activities and experiences so far, commenting on how they are proceeding and making progress.

Friday 24 June 2022

Students continue their Tripos activities and experiences with the aim to finish them as early as possible in the new term.

Summer 2021

Students complete their Post Hoc Reflection of their Tripos activities, commenting on the overall experience and what they gained from it.

Friday 21 October 2022

Students can use their Tripos activities and experiences in the UCAS process of writing personal statements and preparing for university interviews.

Autumn 2022

Tripos Celebration Evening – students who have successfully completed the Tripos will be invited to the celebration evening when they will be awarded their certificate and their achievements celebrated.

December 2022

After Tripos: The Tripos Evening The Tripos Evening will take place in December of the Autumn term. The Tripos Evening is an opportunity to celebrate all the achievements of those who have completed the Tripos, as a result only those who fully complete the Tripos award will be invited to attend. At the evening you will be awarded your certificate for completion of each of the three elements.

To ensure you are awarded the Tripos and are invited to the evening you must ensure all your forms must have been submitted by the appropriate deadlines.

Details of the dates and time will be provided nearer the time.

Using your Tripos experience in the UCAS process Although the central aim of the Tripos is for you to develop as an all-round individual, we believe that the Tripos award provides you with experience that will benefit your future academic study and professional success. Every year thousands of students from around the country apply to university, as a result gaining entry to the most prestigious universities is extremely competitive. We believe your Tripos achievements will help you in your application to the institutions of your choice.

Leading universities are looking for students who demonstrate a clear passion for their course, enthusiasm for learning and commitment to improvement. Academic grades are a uniform expectation for university entry, but they are keen to know about your individual experiences and achievements. The most impressive candidates are those who demonstrate that they have gone above and beyond to pursue their interests and develop themselves. Universities are keen to accept students who have shown initiative, leadership and can proactively contribute to the university. They are also keen to see how ready and equipped you are for undergraduate study, including where you have developed your skills and resilience.

The three elements of your Tripos experience can all be used in your personal statement and in university interviews. The best way to show your qualities and what you can offer is by demonstrating them in what you have achieved and accomplished whilst at school. It is important that you tailor your personal statement to the course you are applying for, therefore your Tripos experience should only be included if it fits with that. As well as linking your Tripos experiences to the specific course you are applying for, also mention the skills and Learner Qualities you have developed along the way.

In preparation for drafting your personal statement it is recommended you reread your reflections from the Tripos to see what examples and achievements you could use. Don’t just say you are ‘organised’ or ‘work well as part of a team’, demonstrate these skills by providing an example from your Tripos or another Sixth Form activity.

Equally, when preparing for interviews later in the application process, you can use examples from your experiences or reflections to demonstrate; study skills, accomplishments, challenges faced, resilience shown and independence.

Here are some examples of how each element could be used to support your personal statement and interviews: Curiositas – showing intellectual curiosity, passion for a subject area, love of learning, use of independent research, detailed planning, acting on feedback, reflecting and evaluating on your skills and performance, showing an ability to tackle large projects, organising your time, keeping to deadlines, working with an academic supervisor or showing creativity in creating an artefact.

Civitas – commitment to a cause or goal, importance of volunteering and helping others, giving up your time, organisation in fulfilling a role, working as part of a team to achieve a common goal, helping to improve something, raising awareness of a particular cause, helping others to learn or develop, representing an organisation or charity, making an impact on people’s lives in the school or local community.

Conatus – showing courage to challenge yourself, showing resilience and perseverance to achieve something new, overcoming setbacks or failure, managing your time and multiple responsibilities, showing creativity in creating or contributing to a project or competition, showing critical-thinking in knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are, working with others to achieve a goal, leading a team or group, showing enterprise and pro-activeness in starting something new, or organising a team or event.more developed than others.

Girls making their mark

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