The Royal Masonic School for Girls

Why Choose RMS?
Founded in 1788, The Royal Masonic School for Girls (RMS) is one of the
oldest girls’ schools in the country. Today, it is a thriving day and boarding
school that is proud to do things a little differently; its focus is on the process
of improving as a learner and on a healthy learning culture. The School
understands each girl and puts her at its heart, finds her individual talents
and inspires her, yet challenges her to get the best possible results. RMS
students are encouraged to excel at all that they do, through nurture and
encouragement, rather than relentless pressure, to realise their strengths,
overcome their weaknesses and find their passions during these important
years of discovery and development. Our most recent ISI Inspection, which
reported that all our students make excellent progress, also highlighted our
success in meeting our aim ‘to help pupils learn and achieve without undue
pressure’ – and our girls certainly do achieve, both academically and by
reaching the highest levels in sports, and in visual or performing arts.

Boarding and pastoral care
We attach a great deal of significance to the quality of our pastoral care for all
students but this is especially important for our boarders, who live in spacious
houses, with comfortably furnished study-bedrooms and lovely communal
areas. Girls are allocated to either Harris (Year 4-9), Zetland (Year 10 and 11) or
Connaught (Sixth Form), and each house is staffed by a resident team, led by
an experienced director of boarding. We have no compulsory exeats and each
weekend includes a number of varied activities and excursions to suit all tastes!

Location and facilities
RMS is situated in 315 acres of stunning parkland with just a 10-minute walk
from the Metropolitan Line at Rickmansworth. With just 30 minutes to central
London by train or underground and just 25 minutes from Heathrow airport.
RMS boasts outstanding facilities for sport, art, textiles and photography
as well as for academic study. Our brand new performing arts centre opened
in 2019, providing state of the art facilities for music, dance, drama and
production arts; we are one of the few schools in the country to boast a
planetarium and observatory; we have an impressive sports centre with
a fitness suite, four squash courts, a separate sprung-floored gymnasium
and sports hall. Additional facilities include an all-weather pitch and indoor
swimming pool. Our extensive site lends itself to numerous outdoor pursuits
– we even have camping pods on our lower fields for weekend camp outs!

The curriculum and co-curricular activities
Our curriculum is very broad and incorporates GCSEs, iGSCEs and
A Levels, maximising the pathways open to students. We offer 27 post-16
subjects, enabling all pupils to succeed. Almost without exception, our
leavers go on to a place at their first-choice universities.
Our co-curricular offering is wide-ranging, with over 80 activities for
each year group in any given term, allowing every girl to discover, follow
and broaden her passions. Community spirit, tolerance and compassion are
encouraged through charity fundraising and volunteer work, and all students
are encouraged to participate in school trips; recent and forthcoming trips
including language trips to Europe, history trips to Cuba and Vietnam,
geography trip to Iceland, physics trip to CERN in Switzerland, economics
trip to the USA and an art and textiles trip to Japan.

Scholarships and Bursaries
Scholarships for academic merit, music, art, sport and all-round performance
are available at 11+. There are additional sixth-form scholarships for art/
textiles, physical education and performing arts.
We offer a discount to full-time members of HM Forces and the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office. Means-tested bursaries are also available.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND BURSARIES Scholarships are offered by the School to encourage and reward excellence. Bursaries enable suitable girls whose parents could not otherwise afford the fees to benefit from an education at The Royal Masonic School for Girls.  Scholarships and exhibitions are awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement or promise in a particular sphere and involve financial support up to a maximum of 25% of the annual fee. Bursaries are awards made to girls who reach the School's required standards but who require financial assistance to take up a place; these awards are subject to means testing, under a standard formula widely used within the independent sector, at the time the offer is made and biennially thereafter. The number of awards made in any one year will vary according to the quality and circumstances of candidates and the availability of funds. The Royal Masonic School for Girls is committed to demonstrating that we provide public benefit and we regard it as educationally beneficial to widen access to the education we offer; this has always been a distinctive feature of RMS whose foundation was essentially charitable. In order to ensure that funds are disbursed where they are genuinely needed, the following principles will apply; •    Scholarships will not exceed 25% of the annual fee. Scholars will be given regular opportunities for prominence and leadership within their given specialism. Academic scholars will be expected to maintain high standards of work across the curriculum. •    Bursaries will be means tested and will be awarded according to need. •    A scholarship and bursary could run concurrently in the case of a scholar who needed further financial assistance. •    Foundation Scholarships are available for the daughters of Freemasons.  The value of each scholarship is based on parental income.  Further particulars may be obtained from the Admissions Secretary.  They are held for the duration of a girl’s time at RMS and are available for day and boarding pupils. Awards at 11+ Awards are given in recognition of excellence with regard to academic achievement in the entrance examination, Sport, All Rounder potential and Music. Awards at 16+ Awards are given for academic excellence, Music, Art, Sport and Performing Arts. For further details please contact Mr Marc Carter, Head of Admissions, on 01923 725354 or by email on admissions@rmsforgirls.com

 

Student Profile

When I was eight years old my parents thought it was best for my education if I went to boarding school. My father is in the Army and due to the unpredictable moves a stable education at the Royal Masonic School for Girls was the best option for me. Ten years later, having finished my last year at RMS I can reflect back at everything that going to boarding school has given me. The Royal Masonic offers a large range of extracurricular activities, many of which I have been involved in over the years. The school does not concentrate on one area of the curriculum, instead it supports every girl’s talent, be it sport, academia, art or performing arts. Being a boarder at a young age meant that I was encouraged to participate in many extracurricular activities in order to fill my time, and as I have grown up through key stage three, GCSEs and A-Levels I have chosen to continue with many of my original activities. My main interests are art, sports and the Army Cadet Force. I play a lot of badminton as well as fencing, shooting, horse riding and running. The teams at RMS are very strong and teams often compete in national events, these supported by our impressive sports complex which is open to boarders for use. The Army Cadet Force has been key in the development of my character into the confident young lady I feel I have become. I joined in year nine and despite being a boarder; the school supported me disappearing for three hours on a weekly basis, and the many weekends I spent away with the force. The Rickmansworth detachment later moved to be located at the Royal Masonic, which meant that many other girls were and are able to experience what I have. Having been in the cadets I have gained many extra qualifications that I would not have gained through school, such as my St John’s Ambulance awards, a BTEC in public services and several leadership awards. I was also nationally selected to participate in the Cadet 150 expedition to South Africa and Lesotho which my school helped me raise the funds I required for the trip. My five years in the force have been completed memorably as I have recently been awarded Hertfordshire’s Lord Lieutenant Cadet award which is a huge honour. The Royal Masonic School for Girls has made me the rounded, level headed, confident and mature girl that I am today and boarding has prepared me for the transition into life at university. I would recommend boarding at the Royal Masonic to any forces child who wishes to have a stable education and a supporting background in which to grow up.