RICKMANSWORTH SCHOOL SIXTH FORM

STARTER FOR 12

Starter for 12 GCSE to A Level Transition Task Booklet

1 Rickmansworth School Sixth Form

Contents

Welcome to your starter for Year 12 booklet! ....................................................................................... 2

AS Art & Design ....................................................................................................................................... 3

AS Biology................................................................................................................................................ 4

AS Business Studies ................................................................................................................................. 5

AS Chemistry ........................................................................................................................................... 6

AS Computing .......................................................................................................................................... 7

AS Creative Writing ................................................................................................................................. 8

AS Dance ................................................................................................................................................. 9

AS Drama ............................................................................................................................................... 10

AS Economics ........................................................................................................................................ 13

AS English Literature ............................................................................................................................. 15

AS English Language and Literature ...................................................................................................... 19

AS Film Studies ...................................................................................................................................... 20

AS French .............................................................................................................................................. 21

AS Geography ........................................................................................................................................ 22

AS German ............................................................................................................................................ 23

AS History .............................................................................................................................................. 24

AS Mathematics task ............................................................................................................................. 25

AS Music ................................................................................................................................................ 26

AS Photography..................................................................................................................................... 27

AS Physical Education ........................................................................................................................... 28

AS Physics .............................................................................................................................................. 36

AS Psychology ....................................................................................................................................... 37

AS Philosophy and Ethics ...................................................................................................................... 38

Starter for 12 GCSE to A Level Transition Task Booklet

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Welcome to your starter for Year 12 booklet!

In the booklet you will find a number of tasks set by your subject teachers. These tasks are

designed to give you an insight into the subjects you intend to study for AS/A level. They

will also help you develop key skills ahead of the course, so you are in the best position to

achieve your top grade.

Tasks should be completed for all subjects you intend to study at AS. All tasks are due for

enrolment day on 3rd September 2015!

If you are unsure if you are going to achieve the entry requirements for your chosen

subjects there will be time after results to complete the tasks. If you find you have narrowly

missed the entry criteria for subjects, the tasks may support you being considered by Heads

of Department for a place on the course.

Enjoy!

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AS Art & Design

As part of your preparation for your AS Art & Design course in September you should complete the following tasks over the summer holiday.

Set up an interesting Still Life (see definition below)

Place a powerful light source to one side (preferably a spot light or bright torch)

"PHOTOSHOOT" - Take a series of photographs of your still life from different angles / zooming in & out.

Your photographs should show a high contrast in tones ranging from very dark to very light

Make sure you print your photographs onto good quality photo paper

Complete three different Tonal studies of three different viewpoints, either working directly from the still life or from your photos. Work on A3 cartridge paper.

Tonal drawing using 2B-6B pencils

Black Biro – hatching / crosshatching / dot technique

One other Tonal media of choice – water colour / oil pastels / chalk & charcoal (you may wish to work on water colour or textured paper for this piece)

Still Life: an arrangement of mostly inanimate objects, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, or shells) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, pipes, etc). Bring this work to your first lesson in September

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AS Biology

Dear New Biology Student,

Independent learning is a central part of being a student. lt will challenge your motivation and

dedication, while developing your organisational and time management skills. Being an independent

learner means being an active learner, taking responsibility for your workload, commitments and

deadlines, and when mastered it will be the key to success in your studies.

We will support you in becoming an independent learner as it is quite a transition from GCSE. This is

the aim of these tasks. They are to be completed by the first day back in September.

1. Complete the sheet entitled "Pupil Information Year L22OL4-L5"

2. Go to http://www.edexcel.com/quals/sce/sce08/biologv/pases/default.aspx save in your

favourites as you will be needing this a lot

3. Find the AS specification for Biology, Salters-Nuffield, 8BNO, first certification 2016. Print this out

twice, one for each folder.

4. Two folders will be required one for topic 1 and the other for topic 2, both with numerous page

dividers. Topics will be taught by separate teachers.

5. Using the CGP book ‘Head start to A-Level Biology’, which you should have purchased from school,

make notes on anything that is new to you or anything that you are unfamiliar with.

6. Answer all the questions at the bottom of each page in full sentences. These will be assessed in

your first week back.

See you in September

Miss Gillan

Mrs Lupton

Miss Norman

Biology Department

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AS Business Studies

TASK: George Osborn has been looking for the

manufacturing sector in the UK to help lead our

economy back to the growth levels seen before the

recession. However, this has not occurred to the

extent it was hoped. There are many threats to UK

manufacturing, which have prevented it from growing and developing in the way hoped.

One of which, it is argued, is our imminent EU referendum. Others feel that energy costs,

support from government, availability of skills/labour and levels of investment are having

more of a detrimental impact.

This is NOT a comprehension exercise. You will need to THINK for yourself and do some research to arrive at the answers. If

you find a term you do not understand it is vital you do not give up, but research the term until it makes more sense.

Your task is to answer the following questions, there are suggested links to help you, but

you are encouraged to complete further research to support your answers:

1. How has manufacturing in the UK changed over the last 60 years?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21027426

http://www.themanufacturer.com/uk-manufacturing-statistics/

2. What is the March of Makers?

3. List three positives & three negatives of remaining in the European Union for UK

manufacturers.

http://www.eef.org.uk/campaigning/campaigns-and-issues/manufacturing-facts-and-

figures/manufacturing-our-future-in-europe

4. From the report below, what are three elements that are said to be holding back the

development of manufacturing in the UK?

http://www.channel4.com/news/made-in-britain-the-future-of-manufacturing

5. Find 5 statements about the current position of car manufacturing in the UK & What

is the car scrappage scheme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy5tjoWxj6M&safe=active

6. “Is the future of UK manufacturing bright? (200 words)

This question should be completed as an essay, the title is intentionally broad to enable you

to take the task in any direction you see fit.

See you in September!

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AS Chemistry

See resources in folder/blog/in printed copy of Starter for 12.

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AS Computing

1. Go to http://lazarus.freepascal.org and download the version of Lazarus you need. If you use MS Windows it will be the Windows version. Choose the 32-bit version if in doubt.

2. Install it on your computer

3. Go to tinyurl.com/alevelcomputingcourse or http://alevel-computing.x10.mx (They are the same)

4. Go to the Pascal section and work through all of the first 15 programs up to '15. And Or'

5. In the Pascal section go to '63. Programs to write' and write all the programs for yourself up to ' 4.10 Addition Test’.

6. Bring the ‘Addition Test’ program with you on the first day. If this was too hard, bring the best program that you wrote.

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AS Creative Writing

Write a piece of travel writing about a specific experience during your summer

holiday.

The piece should be at least 500 words.

You should make carefully considered choices about the structure of your

writing and the language to use.

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AS Dance In September you will start to study 5 professional dance works in-depth. You will analyse

the significant and significance of constituent features from the different works; and learn

to contextualise the importance features in relation to the choreographer’s career and

dance history.

Your task is to research one of the following people; to investigate their style of dance and

how they have shaped dance history:

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Frederick Ashton Alvin Ailey Richard Alston Akram Khan

Try to come up with questions to direct your research. To start you off you could consider:

What are their biographical details?

Who are their influences and what inspired them?

What are their movement characteristics?

What company/companies have they worked for?

What are their famous works?

How much of an impact did they have on British, European, American or world dance

Why are they influential figures in dance?

Once you have completed your research, write a newspaper article promoting the reader to

watch the work of your chosen practitioner. It needs to be persuasive, and to make your

argument convincing, ensure you refer to evidence.

To prepare you for the course ahead you should also complete a timeline that plots the

history of dance from the 16th and 17th century to present day. Try and include key

practitioners, different genres, companies, events, and important works which have shaped

contemporary dance today.

Good Luck!

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AS Drama

Writing a Theatre Review

From September to Christmas you will complete Unit 1: Exploration of Drama and Theatre. This unit introduces you to the content of plays written for the theatre. You will learn how to analyse play texts through practical exploration and a supporting written portfolio. One area of assessment will be in the form of a written evaluation of a live performance, a trip for which will take place in the Autumn Term. In preparation for this, you should practice writing a review of a production you have seen. This could be a production that you saw with the school as part of your GCSE courses in Drama or English, for instance or a production you have seen independently or you plan to see in the summer. Alternatively, this could be a review of a theatre production you can access online. Please bear in mind the following guidelines and assessment criteria:

High scoring students make clear distinctions between the play and the production and provide evidence and considered objective analysis of the production.

Responses show a good mix of analysis and evaluation and frequently provide a lively and engaging critical view of what they have seen.

Continued on next page…

A 13-15 Marks awarded

Student’s evaluation of a live theatre performance is outstanding. They are fully aware of a wide range of production values and are able to analyse the effect this may have on an audience. Supported examples are detailed and reported with almost faultless accuracy.

B 10-12 Marks awarded

Student’s evaluation of a live theatre performance is excellent. Production values are clearly understood and their significance is both analysed and evaluated. Detailed examples are relevant and accurate.

C 7-9 Marks awarded

Student’s evaluation of a live theatre performance is good. They understand how production values contribute to the performance overall and are able to evaluate what they’ve seen with clear, detailed examples.

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Before you attempt your own review, look over these paragraphs and see what you would change and add to make them more detailed.

A During the last scene we see the protagonist enter slowly from the back of the stage, approaching his victim slowly. The light dims and a red hue washes onto the stage, this represented the danger the victim faced and because the pace of the protagonist movement was slow, the tension was building up to the climax of the play. I felt anxious that his victim would turn at any moment but the director had deliberately shown she was unaware. The lights then dimmed further and a soft edged spot light encompassed both characters as he crept closer. The significance of the knife as a prop was emphasised by the volume of the music increasing as he raised his arm directly behind his victim holding the knife. The red light intensified as the knife rose higher, his face showed his intension to kill. Just as we thought he would kill her the lights came on full and changed to a pale wash, the music stopped and he dropped to the floor.

B The play was seeking to highlight the fears of working class white men and how they use violence to resolve issues. Throughout the play there were references to this. Most significantly was the use of costume, all of them wore black to symbolise their dark nature.

C There was a minimalist set in this play, I think the stage was clear to show that Sally had made a decision and was now free to follow her dreams. She wore the same costume as before but instead of it looking ill-fitting and dirty is was fresher, again showing that she had gone through a significant change. It was still green in colour showing that she was always going to be a little envious. The music was gentle using stringed instruments which appeared to have a heavenly edge to it.

D Macbeth looked nervous as he approached the weird sisters.

Now have a go at writing your own. Word limit: 1000.

Below is a writing frame to help you to structure your response:

Introduction

Include the name of the play, where and when you saw it and the genre and one brief

sentence about the plot of the play

Main Body

Go into specific detail about various dramatic elements of the play Characters – how did the actors get this information across? How did the scenes make you feel through the use of dramatic techniques? What drama techniques did you recognise? How were they used and why were they used? Lighting – how did if effect mood, tone atmosphere? How was colour used? Etc. Set - abstract or realistic? What did it say about the play and the characters in it? Sound – Was it live or pre-recorded? Impact on the scene? Costume and makeup – What do they tell you about the characters/time period/status? Favourite moment and why – Impact on you?

See how much drama vocabulary you have used . . . could you use more?

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Conclusion

What did you learn? Sum up your overall feelings of the play and its success. Good Luck! The Drama Department

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AS Economics You may have heard that UK dairy farmers are

facing tough times – the price that

supermarkets pay for their milk has fallen,

sometimes below the amount it costs the

farmers to produce the milk.

• Read these two sources carefully and

use them to answer the questions that follow.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2791646/farmers-fury-89p-supermarket-milk-

blockade-threat-price-four-pints-slashed.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/commodities/11008732/UK-farmers-in-firing-line-as-

global-dairy-giant-signals-milk-war.html

This is NOT a comprehension exercise.

You will need to THINK for yourself and do some research to arrive at the

answers.

If you find a term you do not understand it is vital you do not give up,

but research the term until it makes more sense.

1. The Daily Mail stated the amount that Iceland sells milk for now and the price it used

to sell milk for, as well as the price that supermarkets pay to farmers for milk.

Calculate:

(a) the percentage that Iceland cut its prices by

(b) the amount that Iceland pays for its milk from dairy farmers (assuming it pays the

same as other supermarkets), expressed as a percentage of its selling price.

(c ) explain what you believe Iceland does with the money it receives from its

customers for milk, other than buying milk from the dairy farmers.

2. If dairy farmers continue to be paid by supermarkets at the rate quoted in the Daily

Mail article, yet it also costs the farmers the amount stated in the article to produce

milk, what might happen to the UK dairy industry?

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3. With reference to the article in the Telegraph, discuss reasons other than the lower

prices paid by UK supermarkets for some of the problems being faced by UK dairy

farmers.

4. Do UK dairy farmers need help if they are to continue to produce milk in the UK?

Please discuss what assistance would be helpful to UK dairy farmers, and which

individuals or groups are in a position to offer this assistance.

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AS English Literature

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/jun/06/poem-week-thomas-hardy

The link is to The Guardian and some pretty heavyweight commentary on a poem by Thomas Hardy!

Your tasks are

1. Read and study the poem.

2. Complete a summary of the poem which begins with this: ‘Although the author is a man, the

speaker is a woman who is inspired to remember …’

3. Put into your own words what the critic, Carol Rumens, has said about Hardy and the poem.

You may choose to write this as sentences or bullet points. You may raise questions to discuss with

your teacher and class, but you should look up any words that you don’t recognise to help you

understand. Have a dictionary handy.

Good luck and best wishes for your summer

MC

PS THE TEXT IS BELOW IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE OPENING THE LINK.

TEXT ONLY

Poem of the week: ‘Under the Waterfall’ by Thomas Hardy

To mark the great man's anniversary, a love poem that combines his lyric gifts and his novelist's feel

for character and realism

Carol Rumens

Monday 6 June 2011 10.23 BST Last modified on Tuesday 3 June 2014 19.51 BST

The Thomas Hardy Society has just celebrated Hardy's "birthday weekend" (this year including the

120th anniversary of the publication of Tess of the D'Urbervilles). Poem of the week picks up its

fiddle and continues the theme, to celebrate Hardy the poet.

"Under the Waterfall", written in 1914, is one of the less familiar love poems. It's not an overtly

personal lyric, and the strong emotion is channelled by skippy tetrameter rhythms and simple paired

rhymes. In fact, while Hardy doesn't proclaim it as such, "Under the Waterfall" is an eclogue. From

the opening speech-marks, and casually demonstrative "like this", we understand there's a second

presence in the room, listening eagerly to the teller of the tale.

If the classical pastoral tradition is echoed, the poem is no less informed by the 19th-century novel,

the genre that Hardy so abundantly enriched before he turned back to poetry, his first love. Many of

the details about the natural world have the subtlety and precision of good prose description, while

displaying the shifts of register that occur naturally in speech, particularly in the speech of those who

move between countryside and city, or cross social boundaries through their education, like Hardy

himself. The narrator combines the unlettered fancy of a "real love-rhyme" with the geologically-

informed reference to "turfless peaks." With a wonderful touch of realism (like Hardy, the speaker

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notices such things), the waterfall's measurements are estimated at "About three spans wide and

two spans tall". The curious plural, "peaces", in "wars and peaces" suggests the kind of mistake an

uneducated person might make, but then, in a more learned register, the lost wine-glass is described

as "opalised" by its long immersion in the water. The lexicon of this speaker is truly archaeological in

its layering.

Folk-song is present, too, especially in those little sets of dimeter lines, with their firm but tripping

rhythm and emotional boldness. This is a multi-dimensional poem, for all the intense and single-

minded focus on the story it tells: it's conversation and song, lyric and narrative, literary and plain-

speaking. Hardy fuses these elements with wonderful sureness, and even creates a character in the

process.

Although we don't learn the main speaker's gender until the end, I think most readers would

associate the plunging of an arm into a basin of water with feminine domestic activities or personal

ablutions. We might think ahead to Elizabeth Bishop's beautiful love poem, "The Shampoo", or to

Paul Muldoon's "The Right Arm" where a little boy also "plunged" his arm – into a jar of sweets.

There must be a thesis to be written on the literary symbolism of the human arm. Wyatt perhaps

began it, with that dream-like visitant in "They Flee from Me", who catches him up in "arms long and

small". Perhaps, in the image of "long bared arms", Hardy is remembering Wyatt.

His speaker loves her love story, and needs only a little prompt when her auditor finally gets to say a

few lines: "And who gives this the only prime / Idea to you of a real love-rhyme …?" So she's off

again, warming to her theme. After that brief, conversational "Well …" the imagery brightens, the

syntax flows faster. Now the poem acquires its memory-branding descriptive richness: we're shown

the tracery of leaves on a hot blue August sky, the oaks shading the picnicking lovers, the fruit and

wine cooling beside the "runlet," the "hard, smooth" rock-face, and, of course, the "inciting incident"

– the accidental dropping of the wine-glass. This central event is tellingly underplayed: the vessel

simply "slipped and sank and was past recall".

There are no regrets – or a pretty convincing pretence of no regrets. The notion that the "chalice"

remains intact, and that no lips but the lovers' have since touched the rim is a slightly fantastical but

potent consolation. The glass, the pool, the basin are repositories of memory – the photographic

memory of a speaker, who, roused by an everyday event and a friendly listener, can recall each

detail of the long-ago epiphany. She can even see the scene in miniature in the floral decorations on

the basin. I wonder if we are meant to suspect that, in her "thickening shroud of grey", she has

become a little deranged.

Remembrance brings immeasurably bitter sorrow to the speaker in many of Hardy's great love

poems. Here, on the other side of the coin, it is treasured. The memory is seen as vividly as if were

fixed in a cleft in the rocks, and belonged to the present. This ordinary woman isn't interested in

posterity, but in preserving the most significant event of her life, for herself, in defiance of time. For

writers, too, this is surely the origin of that strange compulsion to turn away from experience, so as

to change another experience into words.

Under the Waterfall

"Whenever I plunge my arm, like this,

In a basin of water, I never miss

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The sweet sharp sense of a fugitive day

Fetched back from the thickening shroud of grey.

Hence the only prime

And real love-rhyme

That I know by heart

And that leaves no smart,

Is the purl of a little valley fall

About three spans wide and two spans tall

Over a table of solid rock

And into a scoop of the self-same block;

The purl of a runlet that never ceases

In stir of kingdoms, in wars, in peaces;

With a hollow, boiling voice it speaks

And has spoken since hills were turfless peaks."

"And why gives this the only prime

Idea to you of a real love-rhyme?

And why does plunging your arm in a bowl

Full of spring water, bring throbs to your soul?"

"Well, under the fall, in a crease of the stone,

Though where precisely none ever has known,

Jammed darkly, nothing to show how prized,

And by now with its smoothness opalised,

Is a drinking-glass:

For, down that pass,

My love and I

Walked under a sky

Of blue with a leaf-wove awning of green,

In the burn of August, to paint the scene,

And we placed our basket of fruit and wine

By the runlet's rim, where we sat to dine;

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And when we had drunk from the glass together,

Arched by the oak-copse from the weather,

I held the vessel to rinse in the fall,

Where it slipped, and sank, and was past recall,

Though we stooped and plumbed the little abyss

With long bared arms. There the glass still is.

And, as said, if I thrust my arm below

Cold water in basin or bowl, a throe

From the past awakens a sense of that time,

And the glass we used, and the cascade's rhyme.

The basin seems the pool, and its edge

The hard smooth face of the brook-side ledge,

And the leafy pattern of china-ware

The hanging plants that were bathing there.

"By night, by day, when it shines or lours,

There lies intact that chalice of ours,

And its presence adds to the rhyme of love

Persistently sung by the fall above.

No lip has touched it since his and mine

In turn therefrom sipped lovers' wine."

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AS English Language and Literature

1. Print out/photocopy a page of a famous person’s speech of your choice.

2. Print out/photocopy a page of an obituary (use Google to access the newspapers).

3. Find & keep an advert with text.

4. Find & keep about a page of Twitterfeed.

5. Annotate (highlight/underline and make notes) each to explore the use of structure and

language. You will want to consider the linguistic devices used to inform, persuade and

possibly entertain readers.

6. Write a comparison of the different uses of language of each of your four extracts. This

should be about a page in length.

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AS Film Studies You will be required to make a two minute presentation on a film of your choice in the first

week of lessons. Bring your presentation to the first lesson.

The presentation will require you to research and comment on the following areas:

Genre

Box office success

How the critics responded

The strengths of the film

You can use a PowerPoint presentation format and screenshots from the film, but not clips.

See you in September!

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AS French

Design a booklet in which you outline the key tenses and grammar points which were essential for success at GCSE. Include at least:

Present tense

Perfect tense

Imperfect tense

Future tense

Conditional tense

Modal verbs

Adjectival agreement

Si clauses

The subjunctive

Key opinion phrases and adjectives This will form a key document for you as you embark on the AS course and serve as a vital reference document throughout the course as you learn and research new and more complex grammar points and structures.

Start thinking about the different topics that will be referred to in the AS French course. What are the

opinions and the problems? Are there any stories in the news on these topics? etc. Boosting your general knowledge will help you when you need to think of arguments for your written and oral work.

Aspects of daily life sub-topics • The family: different structures and relationships; living conditions (housing, shopping and patterns of daily life)

• Food, drink, health, obsessions and addictions

• Transport: trends and patterns in usage (for the individual and at local and national levels). Leisure and entertainment sub-topics • Sport (including national sporting concerns and traditions)

• Tourism and related themes: tourism as a changing phenomenon; tourism and the environment

• Leisure activities: aspects of cultural life, e.g. film, theatre; the arts as part of leisure time. Communication and media sub-topics • Communication technology: patterns and changes to communication in daily life

• Media, e.g. written press; radio; television (roles and influences). Education and training sub-topics • School and school life: individual experiences; local and national concerns

• Work and training: individual experiences; school to work preparation, transition and aspirations. Bonne chance!

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AS Geography Entry to the Royal Geographical Society’s ‘Young Geographer of the Year’ competition 2015

As your summer task we would like you to consider the important question set out below and in doing so complete an entry for the Young Geographer of the Year competition.

The question for the 2015 YGOTY competition is:

Why does Antarctica matter?

Why are we asking you to do it?

The ability to conduct independent research, structure your ideas and write essays is the biggest change between GCSE and AS Geography. By focussing on this broad question it will help you to start developing these skills and allow us to see your current ability in these aspects. And…you just might win the competition!

Advice on areas you could include:

This year’s competition is an opportunity for students to explore why Antarctica still matters today. This may be for a number of reasons, spanning:

Antarctica's world-leading science The continent's unique biodiversity and landscapes As a location which still inspires people with awe and wonder of the natural world Antarctica's unique status as the only continent in the world without countries Antarctica's governance by the Antarctic Treaty which promotes science, peaceful purposes,

sets aside territorial claims and prevents military activity

Appropriate and accurate geographical vocabulary should be used alongside secondary data.

Format:

Students in the A Level category should answer this question through a 1,500 word essay which can include illustrations, maps or graphs. You MUST include a bibliography of sources such as websites you have used. More advice and examples of the 2013 winners are available here: http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/Competitions.htm

Other details We will collect in your essays in the first Geography lesson in September. We will then pick the best to go to be sent to the RGS in October 2015. The winners will receive their prizes at a special ceremony at the Society’s headquarters in Kensington, London in November.

Where to find help:

Speak to Mrs Gillard for more information or guidance. Also see out Twitter account - @rickygeography - for inspiration. The following websites are also useful:

http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_antarctica/

http://coolantarctica.com/

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/antarctica/?ar_a=1

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AS German

Design a booklet in which you outline the key tenses and grammar points which were essential for success at GCSE. Include at least: Present tense Perfect tense Imperfect tense Conditional tense Modals Subordinating conjunctions Word order Key opinion phrases and adjectives This will form a key document for you as you embark on the AS course and serve as a vital reference document throughout the course as you learn and research new and more complex grammar points and structures. Viel Spaβ!

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AS History ‘Searching for rights and freedoms in the twentieth century’

In search of the American Dream: the USA 1917-1996

South Africa, 1948-1994: from apartheid state to ‘rainbow nation’ You will study both the USA and South Africa in Year 12. General reading is advisable in order to

provide a context for both units. As this is a new course, text books are unlikely to be available until

September. To help with context, please see suggested clips and films below. These will help you to

gather information regarding the political, economic, social and cultural landscape of both countries.

Suggested clips/resources available on line:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aarFxsGUJSA

&index=5&list=PLuL26fXZ8eTNLLnugg2BTyOZQ7H

T-QZk4

BBC (1995) People’s Century. Several of the

episodes concern America, including:

Episode 5, On the Line, which looks at mass

production and the Great Depression.

Episode 6, Great Escape, which looks at Hollywood

in the 1920s.

Episode 7, Breadline deals with the Great

Depression.

Episodes 11, 12, 15 and 22 look at different

aspects of the Cold War.

Episode 16 looks at the mass media in the post

war world.

Episode 17 looks at the civil rights struggle.

Episode 21 looks at the radicalisation of the

struggle for black rights and the counterculture.

Episode 22 considers women’s rights.

Episode 26 looks at Reaganism.

Truth and reconciliation commission:

www.justice.gov.za/trc

South Africa History online:

www.sahistory.org.za

ANC website:

www.anc.org.za

Digital Innovation South Africa:

http://disa.ukzn.ac.za

Aluka

Digital library of resources from and about

Africa:

www.aluka.org

Suggested films:

The Crowd (1928)

Gangs of New York (2002)

Little Women (1994)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Lincoln (2012)

Cold Mountain (2003)

Cry Freedom (1987)

Invictus (2010)Mandela (2014)

To prepare for your first lessons you need to:

USA – Create a definition for ‘Republicanism’ and create a diagram to help you explain how the

American political system functions. Keywords should include: Federal government, Congress,

Supreme Court, State and Local government.

South Africa – Create a definition for ‘Apartheid’ and create a summary diagram (e.g. a mind map or

table) to help you explain what life was like in South Africa in 1948. You could organise your

information under the headings of: politics, economics, society and culture. Within this, you could

refer to race, political parties, townships, trade, Afrikaner culture, segregation, discrimination.

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AS Mathematics task I am pleased that you are considering A Level Mathematics and I look forward to a successful

partnership between you and the school that will hopefully result in a good qualification and an

enjoyable time on the course. I am writing to issue guidance and clarification on a few points.

1. Summer Assignment

In order to bridge the gap between GCSE and AS maths and to keep students’ brains active (!) we

would like all students to work through some specific activities on the MyMaths website,

including: Adding Algebraic Fractions; Quadratic simultaneous equations; Factorising

Quadratics; Completing the Square & Surds.

Students should log on as normal and they will find the tasks waiting for them. A reminder that

our main login is ‘Rickmansworth’. The main password is ‘ricky14’. If you do not find the tasks or

you are new to our school, please email me (gjames@rickmansworth.herts.sch.uk) and I will

ensure the tasks are assigned and provide you with your individual password. This will allow

students to ‘hit the ground running’ in September.

2. Workload

We expect A level students to spend the same amount of time on private study as they spend in

lessons – i.e. about 1 hour’s homework per double lesson. Help is provided in the form of lunch-

time support classes and teachers are always available outside of lessons to seek advice from. I

would like to emphasise the importance of engaging in this level of private study from the start

of the course. In the past, students who have not established this habit have paid dearly in the

long run.

3. Autumn Test

Although the majority of students adapt well to the rigours of A level maths we do find a small

number who have found their peak at GCSE and are unable to make further progress. In order

to identify these students at an early stage we conduct an assessment in the first half term.

Students falling below an acceptable standard may be asked to leave the course or to commit to

a Study Contract with additional support. Maths is not an appropriate choice for students taking

only 3 subjects because, if they drop out at this point, it may jeopardise their place in the sixth

form.

4. Applied Module Textbook

As mentioned in the prospectus we require students to provide their own text for the applied

module studied in Y12 (about £15 new or £6 if second hand through school). Students will be

given more information about this in September and the module will typically start in

November.

Have a restful and enjoyable summer and I look forward to working with you in September.

G James, Head of Maths

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AS Music

You should find (using Spotify/Youtube/etc.) and listen to two pieces of classical orchestral

music written in each of the following periods of composition.

1. Baroque Period c1650-1750 (Bach and Vivaldi are good composers to look for) 2. Classical Period c1750-1830 (Mozart and Beethoven) 3. Romantic Period c1830-1900 (Rachmaninov and Brahms) 4. 20th Century 1900-Current (Shostakovic and Stravinsky)

Make notes on what you notice about the music, commenting on the different elements of

music, but paying particular attention to how many and how the instruments are used.

You should then compare your findings with research from the internet. If you have local

library card then you can access the following website, which is extremely useful, but there

are of course many others.

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/;jsessionid=AC9AEBF07D7514490A5E76D54

C342ADE

Present your findings as an essay drawing comparisons and conclusions about how classical

music has developed over time. You should try to draw your own conclusions for the reasons

that these changes have occurred. You must refer to specific musical examples by name.

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AS Photography

Go to the Victoria and Albert Museum and visit their permanent Photography exhibition. Hand in a response to your visit to Mr la Grange. Your response can take any form you choose, e.g. visual written, a combination of these etc.

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AS Physical Education

Year 12 Summer Work: Anatomy and Physiology

Part of the Anatomy and Physiology section of the AS Level PE paper is to understand joint

types, movements that occur at these joints and the muscles involved. You will need to be

able to apply this information to answer the following questions which are taken from

previous AS past papers.

Using the resources provided (muscle man and information sheet) complete the following

hand-out.

Fill in the empty boxes with the correct information

You may have to do extra research to help you

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Starter for 12 GCSE to A Level Transition Task Booklet

30 Rickmansworth School Sixth Form

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Anatomy and Physiology - The Muscular System

Types of Joints:

• Fibrous – joints allow no movement and the bones are held together by fibrous,

connective tissue, e.g the cranium

• Cartilaginous – joints allow slight movement and the bones are separated by

cartilage, e.g the vertebrae

• Synovial – joints allow movement in one or more directions

Synovial Joints:

Ball-and-socket joint – hip and shoulder

Hinge joint – ankle, knee and elbow

Pivot joint – radio-ulna

Saddle joint – thumb

Condyloid joint – wrist

Gliding joint – between vertebrae in the spine

Movement Terminology:

Key Terms:

- Flexion –a decrease in the angle that occurs around a joint

- Extension – an increase in the angle that occurs around a joint

- Horizontal Flexion – lifting the arm up and across the body

- Horizontal Extension – lowering the arm down and across the body

- Abduction – movement away from the midline of the body

- Adduction – movement towards the midline of the body

- Rotation – movement of a bone around its axis

- Circumduction – the lower end of the bone moves around in a circle

- Lateral Flexion – bending sideways

- Plantar Flexion – bending the foot downwards away from tibia (pointing toes)

- Palmar Flexion – bending hand towards the inside of the forearm

- Dorsiflexion – bending the foot upwards towards tibia or bending hand backwards

- Pronation – facing the palm of the hand downwards

- Supination – facing the palm of the hand upwards

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Types of Muscular Contraction:

Concentric

Concentric contractions are those which cause the muscle to shorten as it contracts. An example is bending the elbow from straight to fully flexed, causing a concentric contraction of the Biceps Brachii muscle. Concentric contractions are the most common type of muscle contraction and occur frequently in daily and sporting activities.

Eccentric

Eccentric contractions are the opposite of concentric and occur when the muscle lengthens as it contracts. This is less common and usually involves the control or deceleration of a movement being initiated by the eccentric muscles agonist.

For example, when kicking a football, the Quadriceps muscle contracts concentrically to straighten the knee and the Hamstrings contract eccentrically to decelerate the motion of the lower limb. This type on contraction puts a lot of strain through the muscle and is commonly involved in muscle injuries.

Isometric Contractions

Isometric contractions occur when there is no change in the length of the contracting muscle. This occurs when carrying an object in front of you as the weight of the object is pulling your arms down but your muscles are contracting to hold the object at the same level. Another example is when you grip something , such as a tennis racket. There is no movement in the joints of the hand, but the muscles are contracting to provide a force sufficient enough to keep a steady hold on the racket.

Functions of Skeletal Muscle:

Agonist – the muscle that shortens under tension to produce movement

Antagonist – the muscle that relaxes or lengthens to allow the agonist to shorten

Synergist/Fixator – the muscle increases in tension but no movement occurs.

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Acquiring Movement Skills

Skill vs Ability

When you return to school in September, you must be able to answer the following questions:

1. What does a skilful sporting performance look like? 2. What are the main characteristics of a skilful performance? 3. What is the difference between skill and ability?

In no more than 200 words, you must pick a famous sportsperson. You must describe his or her sporting abilities and why when they perform, they are skilful. To help you, you can log on to the VLE and find the Skill Acquisition section within PE.

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Practical PE As part of your course, you will be assessed in two sports. Look on the VLE: Physical Education - Key Stage 5 - Skill Acquisition – AS Practical Information Read the specification and in September, you should have an idea of both of the activities you wish to be assessed on.

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AS Physics

See resources in folder/blog/in printed copy of Starter for 12.

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AS Psychology

See resources in folder/blog/in printed copy of Starter for 12.

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AS Philosophy and Ethics

Introduction to Philosophy & Ethics AS

Create a profile for at least 5 of the following philosophers from The Moral Philosophers'

Periodic Table (next page)

Include their name, basic information about them and theories created/ followed. Use the

PPT and examples to guide you (ppt is in separate folder – see link on blog).

Research and find definitions for the following key words. Create a crossword to test others’

knowledge during our first lesson.

Divine command

Natural law

Virtue ethics

Proportionalism

Conscience

Situationist

Utilitarian

Existential

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