January modules to be scrapped!

From January 2014 onwards there will be no provision for sitting any AS or A2 modules in January. For our Lower Sixth students, this January (2013) will be the final time they can sit exams at this time of year.

Following Ofqual’s consultation on A Level reform over the summer, the exams regulator today published its key findings. 

 

They confirmed  the removal of January assessments, that will come into effect next academic year. From September 2013, students will only be able to sit AS and A Level exams in the summer. This will not only affect all students who start AS or A Level courses from September 2013, but also those who started their AS courses in September 2012, for whom there will be no opportunities for AS re-sits or A2 units in January 2014.

OCR Chief Executive Mark Dawe said: “We supported the removal of the January assessment window in our consultation response and are well placed to respond to wider A Level reform, given our extensive engagement across the education community - teachers, students, learned societies, and employers, as well as university academics.

"However Ofqual needs to confirm the basic ground rules to meet the current deadline for roll out of reformed A Levels in September 2014. The issue of retaining the AS for example needs to be resolved. The majority of universities have spoken clearly in favour of retaining the qualification. As part of a university, OCR is also very sympathetic to the concerns raised by the university sector that the model for involvement in A Levels is flexible and practical.“

The Dreaming Spires inspire....

On Thursday, 11^th October the whole of Year 12and a selection of girls from Year 11 spent the day amongst the 'dreaming spires' of Oxford University, visiting Worcester College in the morning and the Ashmolean museum in the afternoon.

Worcester College, an amalgamation of pretty 15^th century cottages and imposing 18^th and 21^st century architecture, is set in 26 acres of stunning gardens and grounds and yet is only a 5 minute walk from the city centre.

On arrival we assembled in the very grand Hall for refreshments before listening to a talk from the college’s admissions tutor on the admissions process and the benefits of studying in a collegiate university, centred around the tutorial system.

There then followed tours of the college buildings: the JCR, the grounds, libraries and chapel, by current under-graduates. This afforded our girls the valuable opportunity to hear first-hand about life in an Oxford college, the admissions process and so on, from those very close in age and experience.

After a sumptuous lunch in Hall, we strolled up to the Ashmolean for a whistle stop tour of this bright, airy and diverse museum. The energetic lady who showed us around, spent no longer than 10 minutes in each gallery, engaging the girls in a wide variety of exercises, to make the experience a very memorable one.  At one point she got us all to sketch an artefact blindfold with our ‘wrong’ hand…surprisingly some of the sketches were very impressive!

Before catching the coach back to Twickenham, the students had an hour or so to explore Oxford and many had a race to see how many other colleges they could gain entry to. I think the winner saw 6!

All the students were very enthused by the day. Here are some quotes from them:

‘Oxford University really gave us a goal to reach for. The town and university were amazing and it was really worth the trip’ (Amrita and Roisin- Year 11)

‘(The) Oxford (trip) was a really interesting and informative experience. It really opened our eyes to the wide range of university choices we have, with Oxford being a possible option. Being able to see and explore the college was very valuable and we had the chance to feel the atmosphere there. This will be useful when we come to comparing other universities later.’ (Aneet, Heetashi, D’Nelle and Anisha- Year 12)

‘It was fantastic to explore an Oxford college and get an insight into collegiate universities. I found the day helpful and inspiring’. (Serena- Year 11)

So you want to be a Doctor....

On Thursday, 4^th October, the Siena Society was treated to an astonishingly thorough and informative talk about the training and working life of a General Practitioner.

Dr Lynch, a mother of a girl at St Catherine’s, not only spoke about the reasons for becoming a doctor: the wide range of careers opportunities and the stimulating and rewarding nature of the work; but she also gave some good reasons why not to become a doctor, including the long hours and stress associated with such a demanding career.

She went on to detail the extensive training required: a 5 Year Medical degree, followed by 2 years as a trainee doctor then either a further 3 years speciality training to become a GP, or 10 years to become a consultant. Quite a commitment!

It was fascinating to hear about Dr Lynch’s own career development: she spent a period in the Endocrinology unit in Bagdad hospital during the Iran-Iraq war, avoiding SCUD missiles, then to Dublin and Sheffield for her GP trainee years before settling in Hanworth which is where she currently practises.

In explaining why she chose to be a GP and not a hospital doctor, Dr Lynch stated: ‘In a GP practice, people stay, diseases come and go. In hospitals, diseases stay but people come and go’. This seemed a particularly neat way of summing up the differences.

Dr Lynch concluded her talk by explaining the highly competitive nature of applying for a Medicine degree: not only will you need a minimum of 3 As at A level, but even then a student’s application has to stand out to beat the mathematical odds of being offered a place at medical school: 3 applicants to 1 place.

The St Catherine’s girls could not have received a more engaging and informative talk about Medicine and life as a doctor. We are very grateful to Dr Lynch for giving up her precious time to come and talk to us.

Sixth Form opens its doors for first Open Evening of the year

On Wednesday, 19^th September, the school hosted the first of its two annual Sixth Form Open Evenings.

The evening began with  a talk by our Head of Sixth Form, Mr Angus Pearson, who spoke about the benefits to our girls of continuing their A level education at St Catherine’s.

He spoke of the advantages of a single sex education and the confidence that this gives girls when faced with the challenges of a more rigorous academic curriculum. He also emphasised the benefit of studying A levels in a relatively small establishment where the teachers have a good prior understanding of the students; their strengths and weaknesses. Mr Pearson went on to give a picture of the busy life that a girl at St Catherine’s can expect to lead when she is in Year 12 and 13 but stressed how supported she would feel with good communication being key to her happiness and success.

We then heard from our Head Girl, Simrin Grewall, who gave us a view of what life is like from a Sixth Former’s point of view. She talked about the support that she had received in writing her UCAS application and the standard of teaching that she had received since coming to St Catherine’s in Year 12: ‘simply excellent’. Sim also spoke about some of the privileges enjoyed by the students: being allowed off site, wearing business dress, make up and so on. Sister Paula concluded the talks with a clear and positive message: that we are a rapidly expanding Sixth Form, already with some excellent A level exam results to be proud of (2012:  78% A*-B) but that the ethos of our Sixth Form will always be preserved: through the expertise and experience of its teachers and tutors, a Sixth Former at St Catherine’s can be assured of a challenging education which will provide her with the confidence and skills to succeed in her future life.

There then followed opportunities to tour around the school, meet the Heads of various departments and view the school’s extensive facilities.

It was lovely to see so many new faces present, from families outside St Catherine’s as well as more familiar ones from lower year groups.

 

Some key dates:              Next Sixth Form Open Evening: May 1^st 2013 (6.30pm)

                                           Deadline for Sixth Form scholarships applications: 5^th November 2012

Sixth Form Open Evening tonight!

Anyone is welcome to attend tonight's Sixth Form Open Evening. Proceedings start at 6.30pm with presentations by the Head of Sixth Form and the Headmistress. There will then be an opportunity to tour the school and meet various heads of Department to discuss various AS options.
Refreshments will also be available.
Please do come along, we would love to see you!

A level results: 89% A*-B, 100% A*-C

St Catherine's Sixth Form students received their A level results today. The school is very pleased with how the students did, with 89% achieving grades A*-B and 100% from A*-C.
Pictured are Shayna Gandhi who is going to Bristol university to read Mathematics and Nishma Chandegra who will be studying Dentistry at Semmelwies university in Hungary.
Our congratulations and best wishes go to all those who are moving on; they have set a high standard for those who follow.

Andrew Hanson from NPL lights up Siena Society

On Thursday, 10^th May, the Siena Society was treated to a dazzling lecture on the Nature of Colour by Dr Andrew Hanson from the National Physical Laboratory in nearby Teddington.

He introduced his talk by explaining with great energy and expertise how our eyes interpret colour and that images are created by the way our eyes respond to lights within a spectrum. Our eyes can only perceive a limited spectrum of colours. At one extreme, ultraviolet light would destroy the biology of our eyes and so we are prevented naturally from seeing it. At the other (infra-red) end of the spectrum, the light is simply not powerful enough to excite our eyes into action!

In addressing the question: what are complimentary colours? Andrew illustrated the answer very cleverly. He got us to stare at a union jack made up of Cyan, Yellow and Black. After we had stared at the image for about 30 seconds, the image was removed but to our amazement an image remained etched on our retinas. But the image was in red, blue and white!! It seems that there are 3 ‘additive’ colours: Red, Green and Blue which essentially add light to create a whole range of other colours. (TVs use these 3 colours). The true complimentary , ‘subtractive’ colours which take light away, are Cyan (-Red), Magenta (-Green) and Yellow (-Blue) which are used by artists and ink-jet printers. What was particularly interesting about this was that it would of course be prohibitively expensive for a printer to achieve a pure black from these 3 colours which is why our printers have a separate, fourth colour-off-black.

Andrew Hanson spoke with huge enthusiasm about many other fascinating facts about colour and addressed the tricky question of whether what I perceive as being blue is what you perceive as blue with great dexterity... and I would highly recommend a look at a short video of Dr Hanson lecturing on the Craziness of Colour at http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxTeddington-Andrew-Hanson-Co