Open document - Royal Alexandra and Albert School

ISSUE03Spring TermFebruary 2012Sixth Form NewsWritten for Students by StudentsHouse Football - RematchThe 19th of January, saw the rematch offootball rivals, Gatton Hall and Kent. Withsuch a tight game preceding this, the gameseemed unpredictable. Gatton Hall tookan early lead with goals scored by DylanSemmelhaack (2 goals) and Kenny Bunjo.Kent struck back with a double deflectedshot coming from Danny Bailey in whichthe keeper was sent the wrong way. Thelast goal of the first half was a firmly struckshot by Dipen Pun who placed it coolly intothe right side of the goal, leaving the score4 – 1 to Gatton Hall at half time.The second half’s goals began with KennyBunjo scoring two goals in succession andcompleting his hat trick. Nearing the end,Danny Bailey scored nothing more thana consolation goal but a beautiful one atthat; hitting it on the volley from just insidethe box the ball dipped just under thecrossbar lobbing the keeper. In the dyingembers of the game, Dylan Semmelhaacksnatched his hat trick when a sloppy passfrom the defence was intercepted and theball was banged through the keepers legsconcluding the score at 7 – 2 to GattonHall.Dylan SemmelhaackSports editorVPractice Interviews for SixthFormersJanuary has been a busy period for nearlyall students in the Sixth Form with theirmodular exams taking place. Despite beingpotentially a stressful time, students haveused their time effectively, utilising the extrasupport sessions by subject staff (e.g. MissHorton led a 5 hour revision session on theevening before a big exam!). In amongst allthis, a number of students were interviewedin January by eight members of theChess CompetitionAfter a growing interest in the gameof chess over the last few weeks in theSixth Form, the students have decidedto organise a chess ‘Ladder LeagueCompetition’. Over a period of 6weeks students will compete witheach other to reachthe top of the league.The top 3 players willreceive prizes at theend of the competitionperiod. So, if you’reany good at chess,find an opponent andjoin in!Jess VincentJames Tack with interviewers from Reigate Rotary ClubReigate Rotary Club. It was an exceptionalexperience for all those involved. Studentswere required to fill out an application formprior to the event which was followed bya 20-30 minutes interview. Each studentwas then debriefed and graded on anumber of different areas relating to theinterview. This event forms the basis ofthe Sixth Form Destinations Programmewhich prepared students for life beyond theSixth Form, whether it be University, Work,Apprenticeships or a Gap Year.Ro y a lAl e x a n d r a& Al b e rtSc h o o l

Interview with Mr PawsonIs Elvis Dead?Absolutely he’sdead. Unlesshe’s livingon the moonwhich is entirelypossible, but Idon’t really haveany interest in itto be honest.Who’s your favourite student?I don’t have any favourites but if I had tochoose I’d say Alicia or Kelvin because theymake an awesome cup of coffee.Do you feel inferior to Mr. Brackpool becausehe’s got 2 degrees?No, because you’ve got to be secure in whoyou are. I’m grateful that he’s so clever aswe can utilise his strengths. No great team isbuilt upon one individual!Are you afraid of Shannon?No. She’s a big character with a very bubblypersonality who’s an absolute legend in theschool. Her larger-than-life character is anasset to the Sixth Form community.How many people do you estimate you willadmit to the Sixth Form next year?We have 160 applications to date but thenumber admitted will realistically be about90 – 100. We hope to admit 100 studentseach year from then on giving us a SixthForm of about 200 which is an ideal size.Could you comment on Sixth Form uniform?Fabulous! The students look great and are acredit to themselves and the school. We getlots of positive feedback and I believe it’s adress code that is conducive for learning.Where do you see the Sixth Form in 5-10years time?We would be consistently achieving highexamination results with an excellent trackrecord. The School is very ambitious andI think we will have increased boardingprovision for the Sixth Form, similar to thetwo new annexes we have currently. The skyis the limit really!What is Miss Kemp-Gee’s role as your seconddeputy?Miss Kemp-Gee focuses upon supportingstudents who intend to go into work/apprenticeships/gap straight from SixthForm. She also oversees the Sixth Formcommittee. On both counts, she is doing anamazing job!Jess VincentSixth Formers on theBusesAs the Sixth Form is fairlynew, the school is trying toraise awareness of what wehave to offer. Six studentswere photographed in front ofGatton Hall so that their photocould be used on adverts thatare going on buses. Keep aneye out during February andMarch and you might see uson a bus near you!Oxbridge ConferenceDylan Semmelhaack , Tinashe Chiriseri,Jessica Vincent and Deanna Sharma willbe attending an Oxford and CambridgeStudent Conference at Epsom DownsRacecourse on the 22nd March. Sessionswill cover degree courses, applicationprocedures, interviews, student life, financeand careers, and more. Students will getan insight into university life and have theopportunity to put questions to the expertswho lecture at top universities.Jess Vincent

Problem Solving Challenge - Launching a TeabagOn the 1st February six students from theRAAS Sixth Form competed in the SATROchallenge at St Bedes School in Redhill.The Team had to create a table mountedadjustable hurdle and a launcher whichwould throw a teabag over the hurdle andland on the table without knocking offthe bar. With limited time and resourcesPeer MentoringWe are excited to announce the new SixthForm Peer Mentoring Programme that isbeing piloted during February and March.An external organisation has been broughtin to train twenty volunteers across Years12 and 13 to mentor other students in theSixth Form. The programme is six weeksin duration; during this time, the mentormeets with their mentee once a week todiscuss any concerns or issues they mayat their disposal it was a tough challenge.The team achieved a respectable height of54cm but were sadly outmatched by sometruly brilliant designs by other competitors.Unfortunately they did not qualifyfor the next round. Manythanks to Miss Blackstockfor organising the teamand well done to thoseinvolved for a valianteffort.have, and help with academic attainment.If the feedback from the pilot is positive,the programme will continue and will runfrom September onwards to help the newYear 12s make the transition into the SixthForm. It is anticipated, all being well,that 30-40 Year 13s will be trained andassigned to incoming Year 12 students.Lizzie HudsonComingsoon. . . .. . . RAG WeekFundraising for charities is always a funway of helping out, especially for the SixthFormers of RAAS. This year, a new eventcalled RAG week is being held. It will be aweek’s worth of hard work, fun and raisingmoney. The students have come up withsome hilarious and wacky ideas on how toraise as much money as possible, includinga week’s worth of themed mufti, cake sales,sport, games, blind drops ,car washes anda slave auction! (Where pupils will bid fortheir peers to be their slave for a week!) Allthe proceeds will go to the charities Help forHeroes, Royal Marsden and Breast CancerResearch. Involve yourself in this gloriousevent by sponsoring someone for a week’sthemed costume or come and get your carwashed: anything and everything will help!Kay Gurung

Surrey Under 17 Rugby TrialsSome of the Sixth Form boys attendedthe Surrey U17 Trials at Guildford RFC inFebruary.They played extremely well, represented theschool immaculately and were anything butout of their depth. The rock hard groundmeant that no contact was possible, whichwill probably mean that the powers that beshall go with those that they know from lastyear’s squad, but the boys are very much inthe reckoning based on their performancesso fingers crossed.Mr. Warnock-SmithRugby RAAS vs Wilson’sOn what some would say was a gloomyand miserable day, most rugby playerswould say was a perfect day the first gameof 2012 took place against Wilson’s SixthForm College. The first half was rather dullstaying at 0-0 with Wilson’s keeping RAASin their own half for most of the time.There was some amazing tackling but thentwo RAAS players, Will Wilson and JamesElwood were injured, and an ambulancearrived.After waiting for the ambulance to leave,RAAS seemed to find some extra energystarting the second half with greatmomentum. With a monstrous dumptackle from George Bradbury and an offload to Asher Stephens with a run to thecorner; he put the score to 5-0. Wilson’s hitback a few minutes later and as the gameneared the end with a levelled score of 5 –5, Krishna Gurung had a brilliant run downthe right flank privileging Gatton with a 10- 5 victory.Dylan SemmelhaackSports editorFunny Photo Competition WinnerFive-a-side TournamentA team of Sixth Form boys entered a fivea-sidefootball tournament at LingfieldNotre Dame School in February. The squadconsisted of Danny Bailey, Tom Brown, KenanBunjo, Alex Burgess, Josh Kunrunmi, AndyPettit, Kelvin Roberts, Dylan Semmelhack,with the injured Dan Pinckney organisingthe team.Gatton dominated their first couple of groupgames but could only manage 0-0 drawsHorse RidingFor Natalie Wallace,being in the Sixth Format RAAS has allowedher to take the HorseManagement BTEC andthis will help her toachieve her goal of agoing to an equestriancollege for furthertraining when she hascompleted her A Levels.She, along with otherSixth Form students canspend their free time inthe stables helping tocare for the horses anddeveloping horse ridingskills. When she is notlearning about horses,or looking after them,Natalie competes inshow jumping events inthe local area.in each. A vital strike from Semmelhaacksealed a place in the semi-finals. A valianteffort against the strongest team in thecompetition culminated in a 2-1 defeat,despite a screamer of a goal from Pettitgiving the team hope.The boys should be proud of their efforts,and will no doubt hope to make it to thefinal next time, and win it!Mr CottynEditor Jessica Vincent Design by Matthew Van-Noort-Pendleton