In our Science Department, teachers focus on planning creative and fun lessons to inspire students; and our Physics specialist and STEM Co-ordinator, Miss Thompson, organises a calendar of special activities and events to boost interest and engagement.

Year 7s have taken part in a practical, hands on robotics workshop, delivered by James Claxton from Kielder Observatory. Students used programmable robots called ‘Sphero’ to complete a series of coding and problem solving challenges, similar to how real space missions send step-by-step commands to robot explorers. Pupils worked in teams to develop their computational thinking through trial, error and iteration.

This year, we held our first after school Science Fair and it was a huge success. Student teams in all year groups were keen to demonstrate their scientific knowledge to all of the families, friends and teachers in attendance. There were some fascinating displays, projects and experiments, focusing on everything from the solar system, volcanoes and sustainability, to crystal making and an experiment to see if a pet brush mimicking a cat’s tongue is superior for grooming!

Students also took part in a citizen science project with the University of Southampton and the Royal Society of Biology where pupils investigated how soil pH affects bean growth. This provided an excellent opportunity to contribute to real scientific research while developing practical investigation skills in the classroom. In a visit to Durham University, Year 10s were able to explore skeleton archaeology, and A’ Level Physics students were able to carry out a hands-on radioactivity practical experiment. Astronomy fans had a fantastic opportunity to visit Wynyard Planetarium and Observatory where they learned about recent advances in manned missions to the Moon; and there was even an incredible Space Masterclass delivered by the National Space Academy where students built telescopes, infrared cameras and mini hydrogen rockets

Students also explored solar power in a fascinating workshop, learning how solar panels work before examining how much energy is generated by the solar panels on our own roof!