Open document - Royal Alexandra and Albert School

ISSUE
05
Summer Term
July 2012
Sixth Form News
Written for Students by Students
Visit to the University of Sussex
On Wednesday the 20th of June sixteen
EPQ (extended project qualification)
students went to Sussex University to
help them with the research needed to
complete their projects. In addition to
having the opportunity to use the fantastic
library facilities, they were given a guided
tour of the campus and a talk by one of the
head librarians on how to use a University
library efficiently. Following this trip,
some EPQ students will be returning on
Wednesday the 27th of June to continue
using Sussex’s library facilities to help them
further in their investigations.
Jess Vincent
Writing a Personal Statement
A key part of any university application is
the ‘Personal Statement’. In June Year 12
students attended a briefing about how to
write their personal statement in preparation
for competing their UCAS applications by the
Autumn. Kevin Betts from Sussex University
gave a presentation explaining the key
elements that should be included and what
should be left out. He also
gave an insight into how
university admissions tutors
made decisions about who
should be offered places.
The talk gave students
information which will be
invaluable when they make
choices about courses,
universities and prepare their
statements later this year.
Kevin Betts from Sussex University
A-Level Art
This summer Sixth Formers have been
working hard towards their AS and A2 exams
and assessments. One of these is Katy Cole
and her A-Level Art and Design coursework
was put on display ready for assessment.
The project was based on the theme of
Decay. Pupils looked at a range of different
forms of decay; natural decay, architectural
decay and human decay. Over the course
of the unit, all students experimented with
Student from the University of Bristol
n May, Camilla Russell, a student from the
University of Bristol, came to visit the Royal
Alexandra and Albert School Sixth Form
to give an overall insight on university life.
The talk was a bit of an eye opener for the
Sixth Form students. The main topics that
were discussed were the social aspects of
life in university including making friends,
getting involved in some of the
many societies and clubs that
are set up. Another part was
the importance of independent
study and how the work required
and discipline is much more
demanding than A-Levels. She
also talked about how imperative
it is that you meet your work
deadlines; with no extensions, if
you miss the deadline you will just
fail. Moving on, she explained university
Katy Cole
a range of artistic techniques including
textiles, printmaking, glass-fusing, kiln
carving, ceramics and painting. In her
work, Katy looked at how a person’s
features alter with age, taking inspiration
from the large scale paintings of the artist
Jenny Saville. This is the end of a really
successful year for Year 12 Art pupils,
they’ve all worked their socks off and
produced some very accomplished work.
structure and how many lectures and
tutorials there are per week. At one point
Camilla emphasised how important it is to
take part in community and volunteering
during school and because she hadn’t
universities were not as inclined to accept
her. This led to a gap year in which she was
juggling 3 jobs at the same time with less
than 6 hours of sleep. The students definitely
benefited from the experience and really got
an idea as to what it may be like at university.
DylanSemmelhaack.
Royal
Alexandra
& Albert
School

Peer Mentoring
Over 50 students in Year 12 have volunteered
to become peer-mentors when they are in Year
13. The volunteers attended a day’s training
in readiness for September when they will
be paired up with incoming Year 12s to help
them make the transition into the Sixth Form.
The main purpose behind the programme is
to help new students develop generic study
skills, develop subject knowledge and facilitate
social integration. These are all key factors
that contribute to making a smooth
adjustment to higher level study. The pilot
programme that ran a few months earlier
revealed that mentors and mentees can
benefit significantly from engaging in this
two-way process. Benefits range from
improved exam results to improvements
in self-esteem and a sense of fulfilment.
First Aid Course
On the 13th of June 21 students had the
opportunity to complete the ‘First Aid
in the Workplace Qualification’.
The qualification, which is recognised by
employers, covers basic aspects of first aid such
as the application of plasters and bandages
and more complex skills such as CPR. Many
of the students were completing the course as
part of the Community Sports Leaders
Award.
Gap Year Talk
June saw a visit from Louise, giving a
talk about Gap Years in which she spoke
about her personal experience with the
Volunteering Service Overseas (VSO) which is
the world’s leading independent international
development organisation. To help eradicate
the volunteers just looking to get a holiday,
the organisation chooses which country you
will go to, whilst you can choose the kind of
placement you are looking for. The students
found it very informative giving a different
option to those who may not want to go
into university straight away or at all and
who have a passion for helping developing
countries. She talked about the need to be
on your toes at all times, not knowing when
you would be pushed out of your comfort
zone and do something that you may have
never done before. It was important that the
students were given an insight into an option
that may have otherwise been overlooked.
DylanSemmelhaack.

Food Bank
Just over 13 million people live under the
poverty line in the UK. Redundancy, low
income and unexpected bills have resulted
in people going hungry as they are unable to
afford food; this is a huge problem as some are
families that have young children. The Trussell
Trust Food Bank helps families by providing
a minimum of 3 days worth of food and will
provide more depending on when they get
their next income. The student council of
RAAS Sixth Form organised an event for the
students to bring in food to donate as they
all know how important nutrition is especially
for children their own age. The students
contributed a great amount and the Student
Council can say for sure that the families
are very appreciative of those who helped.
Kay Gurung
Charity Swim
On the 20th of April two of RAAS’s students
Dominic Scott and Deanna Sharma and two of
their friends from Reigate College participated
in a 5k charity relay swim at Tandridge Leisure
Centre. The team donned their Morph Suits
and we are pleased to report that the students
completed their relay swim in approximately 2
hours and raised £157 for Marie Curie Cancer
trust.
Members of the Student Council with some of the food that was donated
Rag Week Cheque
As you will have read in the last issue of the
Newsletter, the Sixth Formers of RAAS were
involved in RAG week in March. This was
a very successful charity week, where Sixth
Formers did all sorts of crazy activities to raise
money for their three chosen charities. A
grand total of £2,043.96 was raised and
a cheque was handed over to the charities
in June. Thank you all for contributing!!
Kay Gurung
Looking Ahead………the
Rocking Horse Festival
It is always important to help those who need
help; making someone’s life better can be very
rewarding. Rocking Horse is a small charity that
helps sick children around Sussex and Surrey. It
would be great if you could join us on the 8th
of September for the charity festival on the top
field of RAAS. Please come to support and have
fun as well.
Kay Gurung
Members of the Sixth Form Council with the cheque showing how much money was raised

Community Sports Leaders
In order to compete for the Community
Sports Leaders qualification the participants
must lead a 30 minute sports lesson and
be assessed by a qualified PE teacher. To
this end, during Year 7’s double PE lesson
on the 12th of June, pairs of Sports Leaders
took 15-25 students each and taught an
assessed lesson. Lessons ranged from
Lacrosse to football and all assessors were
impressed with the participant’s level of
class control and planning and consequently
each pair passed their assessment.
CSLA Rounders Tournament
On Saturday the 16th June, the Sixth Form
participated in a rounders tournament in aid
of those completing a CSLA course. CSLA is a
‘Community Sports Leaders Award’ in which
students gain leadership skills and are required
to plan, prepare, deliver and evaluate activities
to their peer groups and to children in the lower
years. One of the objectives to pass the course,
was to plan a competition. Those doing CSLA
decided that rounders was the best sport as
everyone enjoys playing it. The whole of Year 12
was split into four teams and throughout the
morning they all competed against each other.
The weather was in our favour and managed
not to rain, although it did attempt to. All in all,
the morning was a great success and everyone
enjoyed themselves!
Lizzie Hudson
Year 13 Celebration Meal
On May 25th the Year 13 students and their
subject teachers went to a Greek restaurant in
Claygate to celebrate the completion of their
Sixth Form studies. The evening started with a
selection of tapas followed by traditional
Greek dancing and plate smashing!
The evening was a great success, and
a good send off for the Upper Sixth.
Jenny Crone
Triple Jump Gold
Year 12 student Ejiro Sowole-James took part
in the Surrey Schools Athletics Championship in
Kingston on 16th June. He won a gold medal
in the Triple Jump event. Congratulations Ejiro!
Editor’s Note: We have already booked Epsom Racecourse for next year’s Celebration
Meal. This spectacular venue will be able to accommodate the higher number of pupils
who will be in Year 13 next year.
Editor Jessica Vincent Design by Matthew Van-Noort-Pendleton