Curiosity What’s Your Question?
Mrs Rachael Prince – Head of Science
British Science Week arrived with plenty of energy this term, anchored by a brilliant theme: ‘Curiosity, what is your question?’. We kicked off with, every form tackling a really tricky question – what truly makes good teamwork? Rather than just discussing it, pupils engaged in practical problem solving tasks – with some interesting drawings as a result!
In the Prep school, our younger pupils fully embraced their inquisitive side too. The children were challenged to come up with their very own scientific questions, and the sheer variety of them has been wonderful to see! We will be displaying these brilliant thoughts on our brand new WONDERWALL, and the children will receive a special visit from a college scientist to answer their specific questions in person! To get the cogs turning ahead of this, all Prep classes from Nursery right up to Prep 6 were treated to some incredibly exciting experiments with dry ice. Classrooms were temporarily transformed into misty laboratories. Watching the dry ice bubble and transform into billowing clouds sparked real awe and led to some fantastic Science buzz amongst the pupils.
The excitement continued with guest speakers. We were incredibly lucky to welcome Nathan Pili, currently aspiring to the Astronaut programme. Nathan captivated the room by sharing his recent experience of spending a several weeks underground in a special training bunker. He spoke openly about the psychological challenges of isolation, the strange reality of living entirely below ground and what it takes to train for space exploration.
Mr Wright, Mr Cooper and Mr Stephenson led some deeply thought provoking sessions explaining how mathematical concepts can be used to solve many unseen problems, from predicting risk to barcode data. Adding to this inspiration, Mr Allsopp-Johnson and Dr Shipley spoke about the exciting research they completed while at university. They shared the reality of life in higher education laboratories and the thrill of discovering things no one else has ever documented, giving our older pupils a genuine glimpse into where their studies could eventually take them.
Around the College pupils competed QR code treasure hunt featuring interactive challenges around the grounds. Tasks ranged from carefully counting vegetation varieties on the lawn to measuring how their own heart rate changed when climbing the stairs, providing a perfect blend of biology and physical activity. A massive well done to Avia in U3, who was our overall winner after completing the most stations!
Ultimately, we saw record attendance across all our activities this year, which is a wonderful testament to the enthusiasm of our pupils. We truly hope to have inspired a future generation of curious minds and we cannot wait to see what the theme will be next year!
