Sixth Form Special Edition Welcome to this week's Hertsbeat Sixth Form edition, which includes the achievements of many

of our Year 13 students over the past few exciting months. The challenges many of us have faced,

such as The Brilliant Club Scholars Programme and UCAS applications, have now placed us in the

best positions as our year group progresses through the final stages of our Hertswood career.

Our Oxford and Medical applicants recently sat their entrance exams and now await offers

amongst the best in the nation, whilst many have already received offers from several of the top

universities in the UK. Substantial credit must be given to the teachers who have supported us

throughout the process and we both have our fingers crossed as we await decisions.

Hertswood Academy Aim High Achieve Excellence

Hertsbeat Monday 5th December 2016 | Issue 12:07

Joe and Lauren, Head Boy & Girl

Aptitude for Academic Success by the Sixth Form Team

Year 13 are in the midst of the UCAS application process, which

has to be completed by January. There is, however, an earlier

submission date in October for Oxbridge, as well as Medicine,

Veterinary and Dentistry applicants. This year Hertswood had a

record eleven applicants for the October submission!

In addition to seeking feedback from the Sixth Form Team and

subject teachers to refine their crucial personal statements, the

students had to complete aptitude tests specific to the course for

which they were applying. They worked hard preparing for these tests. We were also able to extend an invitation

from Haberdasher’s Aske’s School for Girls to those students taking the TSA and UKCAT, to attend preparation days.

The Admissions Tutors at the universities are now reviewing the information for each applicant: academic record

and reference, personal statement and their test results. They will then shortlist and if our fantastic eleven make it

through to the next stage, they will be invited to attend interviews at these really competitive institutions. They

should be very proud of what they have achieved so far and we wish all of them lots of luck.

Name Test Course

Fahmida, Immanuela,

Michael & Stavroula

UKCAT,

BMAT Medicine

Evelyn BMAT Veterinary Science

Alex & Jamie PAT Physics

Alban MAT Maths

Jenna TSA Psychology

Joe TSA Economics & Management

Lauren HAT History & Politics

Left to right: Jamie, Stavroula, Fahmida, Jenna,

Immanuela, Evelyn, Joe, Lauren, Michael, Alex

I found the preparation process to be an enriching

experience, dissecting questions for the information they

wanted — a skill I can transfer to my university career. I’m

hoping to study Physics at UCL, because they have a strong

engineering focus, which is my passion. -Jamie

Both of the exams I took were very intense. The experience was

new, but eye-opening for how intense studying medicine at

university is going to be. The ‘situational judgement’ section of

the UKCAT made me consider the kind of tough decisions you

have to make as a doctor. -Immanuella

www.hertswoodacademy.org | facebook.com/hertswoodacademy | twitter.com/hertswooduk

Severe Weather Arrangements

With temperatures set to drop, we’d like to remind you of our school closure arrangements. We make every effort to keep the school

open, but health and safety is a prime concern. In extreme weather conditions, if the number of staff unable to get to school because of

travel difficulties means that supervision is not sufficient, we may have to close.

We subscribe to the Local Authority's School Closure Notification System. Once the notification is sent local radio stations are alerted

and the information is posted to a noticeboard at hertfordshire.gov.uk. We will also post this information on our website.

In addition, this information will be in a message on our answerphone and a text message or MyEd message will be sent to all parents. It

is therefore essential that we have up to date contact information for each child. If you have recently changed your number please let

us know. The same system will be used to inform you when the Academy reopens.

The Brilliant Club by the Sixth Form Team

For the second year, the Hertswood Academy Sixth Form

has worked with an organisation called The Brilliant Club

whose aim is to help students access highly selective

universities. Students work in small groups with a PhD

tutor on a dissertation style essay, which then gets marked

at undergraduate level allowing them to develop

transferable skills for university and beyond.

This year’s programme launched with a trip to King’s

College, London. The cohort then worked with three tutors

and the challenging topics they studied were ‘How the EU

developed its health policy’, ‘The role of the United

Nations in maintaining global peace and security’ and ‘How

xenobiotics affect the body’.

The students did incredibly well, with many obtaining

firsts. What’s more, Katherine McLaughlin, Mollie Quinn

and Lauren Hall all received distinctions for the

exceptionally high standard of their work and how well they engaged during the tutorials.

All of the students celebrated their success with a graduation at the University of Warwick and are using the experience in

their personal statements to demonstrate that they have the skills that the universities are looking for.

Cucina Christmas Dinner

Cucina will be serving a traditional Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings on Wednesday 14th

December. The cost is £3.50 for the two course meal and payment details are on ParentPay.

Normal arrangements apply for students eligible for Free School Meals.

To allow Cucina sufficient notice of numbers, there is a deadline of 7th December 2016 for ordering.

At the House of Commons by Joe (Head Boy, Year 13)

On Monday 14th November, I was fortunate enough to visit the House of Commons,

accompanied by our Headteacher, Mr Gillett and Assistant Headteacher Miss McFerran. It

was an extremely insightful experience which will certainly be beneficial to my future as

well as that of the academy.

After meeting representatives from the Bank of England with whom I’d previously worked

closely, and also Chief Executives of top corporations such as MatchesFashion.com and

Marks & Spencer, I feel confident that the students from Hertswood Academy can really

reap the opportunities on offer and venture to great places within the greater world of

work. Meeting our local MP, Oliver Dowden, was also a delightful bonus!