Year 12 Psychology Poster Competition
On Tuesday Year 12 psychologists travelled to Huish College to present their academic posters in a competition.
Each group had designed their own piece of research, which they then had to carry out. This involved writing a literature review, designing the methodology, and compiling and analysing the data using statistical tests. Once they had achieved all this they needed to reduce the content to present on an A1 poster (grateful thanks to the Art department for printing these). On they day the posters were scrutinised by four judges and the students had to defend their work under some very tough questioning. Although we did not come away with the trophy, the students were highly commended for their detailed work and creative ideas.
The Languages Day
‘Hier kommt die Sonne!’. The Languages Fun Day started off the Year 7 Activities week this year and in good form, the sun came out to support! Students enjoyed playing Croquet and Petanque on the front lawn, strutting their stuff to the sound of the upbeat and joyful sounds of the guitarist for the flamenco workshop and practising techniques to use chopsticks in the Chinese seminar. In addition, students practised some grammar challenges in Latin, completed a series of tasks in a French escape room, learned more about hispanic culture and practised their artistic skills in a Hundertwasser workshop. It was a jam-packed tour of our multicultural world. Many thanks to all the staff involved on the day and well done to the students in embracing each challenge presented to them!
Year 8 Science and Design Technology Day
On Thursday morning the Year 8s took part in a house competition in which they had two hours to research, design and build a model eco-home with as many ways of reducing their environmental impact as possible. The pupils enthusiastically got stuck into building wind turbines, biodiverse living roofs, insulated walls, EV charging points, water collection systems, and vegetable patches. One home even had a pool and helipad (apparently the helicopters would be battery-powered). All the groups came up with amazing ideas and fantastic models using their empathetic and agile attitudes and creative skills. It was then off to the Queen’s Hall where each house presented one of their eco-homes in the Grand Final. Although they were all worthy of glory, French was crowned eco-home of the day by the staff judging panel.
In the afternoon, the students applied their workshop knowledge and skills to the exciting task of building catapults using CLS construction timber. These catapults were designed to hurl cabbages safely across a designated area. This project offered students the chance to work on a larger-scale project than typically undertaken during regular lessons.
As the deadline approached, students had to work with speed and precision to make the final adjustments to their creations. The result was an impressive array of historical siege weaponry, which were then tested for their effectiveness.
Parents of Year 8 students, be prepared: if your child brings home some coleslaw, it might have an interesting story behind it!
Year 9 MUN
On Thursday, the Year 9s undertook a Model United Nations Day. Some had been involved in the co-curricular club through the year but many had not. The students were allocated countries and were asked to research those countries’ views on the issues of Global Violence and the Provision of Global Healthcare. They were provided with draft resolutions and asked to draft amendments to the clauses within those resolutions to reflect the position of the Member State they had been allocated. The students then spent the remainder of the morning debating those two issues and the amendments that had been drafted. The two committees were very skilfully chaired by Maryam and Ilya who excelled in managing their peers whilst encouraging MUN procedure and custom. The afternoon was spent as a general Assembly debating the issue of a mock water shortage in Egypt. This encouraged the students to think about how countries would react to such a crisis and which Member States would align with who. The debate was purposeful and insightful with the students making excellent speeches and asking pertinent questions. We hope that the day sparked an interest into international relations and the beginnings of diplomacy and we hope to see many of these students at the MUN co-curricular next year.
Year 8 Creative Writing Day
On Wednesday, the Year 8s participated in a day focused on creative writing. Starting with a presentation by renowned children’s author Ally Kennan, she inspired the students to read, write and enjoy the art of storytelling. The students then had the opportunity to experiment with characterisation with Rob Pudner and Katie Jones from Entertainingly Different. This workshop allowed the students to explore characters’ voices and movements in different settings to create imagination, believability and interest.
Towards the afternoon, Year 8 were able to put what they had learned into practice, writing their own descriptions of detailed characters. We read them aloud (with an ice cream and a game of rounders or two in between), sharing some wonderful examples of storytelling. Some prizewinners were Finn, Amelia, Joe and Ptomely, though all were a pleasure to read. Well done Year 8!
Year 9 Geography Trip to Lyme Regis
Year 9 had a glorious day at Lyme Regis on Wednesday. Pupils experienced a range of different data collection techniques whilst assessing the success of Lyme’s coastal management scheme. A huge thanks to staff and Year 9 for making this a fabulous day.
Year 12 Trips
Over the past week Year 12 have gone on several interesting trips including a visit to Numatic (the creator of Henry Hoover), the Goddess Temple in Glastonbury.
On Wednesday, the A-Level Drama class went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London with Mrs Litton to watch Sean Holmes’ production of Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies. We watched on from the lower gallery of the Globe as the play, set in an Italian town, commenced. In this Italian town, we met young lovers Claudio and Hero, and sparring individuals Beatrice and Benedick. As the play went on they discovered that all was not as it seemed and they became entangled in a series of mischievous games, pranks and plots. After the play ended we headed off down the river to the National Theatre where we were given a guided tour of the Olivier Theatre and the props, set and costume departments. We were shown props used in productions such as “Follies”, the Sondheim musical which starred Imelda Staunton, and set pieces in development for upcoming performances. The tour provided us all with an incredibly detailed insight into the behind-the-scenes action at the National Theatre. Overall, the play was an incredibly enjoyable watch with a lot of humour and wit; secondly, the tour was informative and awe-inspiring throughout, providing the whole class with a very memorable trip.
