An adventure through time
Last week, pupils in Year 7 took a trip to the Royal Society of Chemistry for an event entitled “1001 Inventions: Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry”. Through various talks and practical experiments, they discovered how the science we now know as Chemistry evolved throughout the ages. Highlights of the trip included workshops on making oobleck – a cornstarch-based substance that acts like a liquid when being poured, but like a solid when a force is acting on it – and a workshop on soap and perfume making. The visit was a fantastic opportunity for pupils to learn about chemistry whilst also finding out about the history of science. In the words of the students: “We all loved it and we all came out with a different perspective on science.” Thank you to science teachers Ms. Mummery and Mr. Turner for organising!
Joint Year 11 forensic science project comes to a close!
September 2018: a ‘murder’ is committed within the walls of Ecole Jeannine Manuel in Paris. Following the discovery of the body, a team of Year 11s from our schools in London and Paris are tasked with identifying the culprit! After nearly nine months of close scientific collaboration with their Parisian peers, our students headed over to Paris to close the case.
Since September, pupils had been using forensic techniques, such as fingerprinting, blood typing, Henssge Nomogram or hair sample analysis, to whittle down the original list of 15 suspects. Throughout the year, students in Paris and London worked together to collate data from their experiments and reach conclusions. By early June, the number of suspects had been reduced to three and the students travelled to Paris to carry out the final stage in their research together. Using DNA Gel Electrophoresis to analyse DNA samples recovered from the crime scene, they were able to clearly identify the killer.
For Science Teacher Mr Smyth, “this project was an excellent opportunity for Year 11 pupils to become familiar with some of the forensic techniques used in crime labs around the world, and to collaborate with students at Ecole Jeannine Manuel in Paris.”
Year 7s visit Roald Dahl Museum
Yesterday, our Year 7s took a trip to Great Missenden to visit the Roald Dahl museum as part of their study of creative writing and literature. They visited the shed where the great man wrote his most famous children’s books, explored the sites he used as inspiration for his stories in the village as well as coming up with some story ideas of their own!
Year 9s visit National Army Museum
As part of their studies of First World War poetry, and to coincide with Remembrance events at school, we took all our Year 9s to the newly renovated National Army Museum in Chelsea on the 13th of November. Pupils got the chance to handle genuine artefacts from real First World War soldiers and were lucky enough to do a poetry workshop based around the objects with a published poet and a poet who was also a serving soldier!
Year 8s take a trip to Burnham Beeches
On October 10th, our Year 8 pupils visited Burnham Beeches Wood in Buckinghamshire as part of their study of geology in science. They explored the woodlands and observed geological soil layering, ancient sites of clay mining for bricks, quagmires and areas where sinkholes exist!
In addition, pupils learned about pollarding trees and how the woods are being managed and preserved for future generations. They took soil samples at different locations around the trail and these will be analysed back in school for their pH, texture, and profile. This information will then be related to the dominant trees found growing in each sampled area.
A challenging and exciting day rooted in fun!
CM1s visit Sotheby’s
On the 28th February, Sotheby’s sold Picasso’s Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée for a record £50 million. Thanks to an invitation from a parent, our Year 5 pupils were able to go see the incredible works of art sold at Sotheby’s that evening, hours before the historic sale. Pupils also had the opportunity to admire Picasso’s Matador, as well as works by Giacometti, Magritte, and Derain.
