This year’s faculty extension sessions (for scholars and invited others) kicked off last weekend with sessions for the older two groups. Students in Years 10 and 11 honed their high-performance learning skills through the use of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Talented and Gifted Study Programme. They started by creating flow charts to map out their thought processes explaining the reactivity of alkali metals and halogens. They then applied this method to an A-level task, using energetics data to explain reactions involving these elements. Finally, they utilised their newly developed thinking skills to analyse chemically reversible reactions they conducted, drawing high-level scientific conclusions from their observations. Henry said that “I enjoyed learning the reasoning behind how the atoms work and delving into the subject on a more A-level way to understand why things work and not just that they work.”

The Sixth Form session was split between the Maths and Computing Faculty and the Languages Faculty. The first session was titled ‘Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics’ and students looked at the many ways statistics are represented and, crucially, ‘misrepresented’ in the media. It focused on taking students through the many ways data can be skewed in favour of the wanted view. The students were asked to use some of the methods illustrated to purposefully skew sets of data to meet both opposing views and compare their outcomes. From this, they should be better able to be better critical thinkers when coming in contact with data represented in the media and via the internet. 

In the languages session the students took an in-depth look into Spanish Bullfighting. Students researched what was involved in the iconic tradition and considered arguments for and against it continuing in the future.  Time was spent debating whether it should be seen as a sport or an art form as well as looking at the economic and welfare arguments that surround this highly emotive topic. 

Adam fed back that “the session was eye opening and gripping, covering fascinating information that normal lessons don’t have time for.” Michelle said that she “enjoyed the topics that were discussed considering they were unexpected but highly interesting. I found the presentation on bullfighting quite fascinating, because I had never heard of it until that session. I learnt that bullfighting is deeply rooted part of Spanish culture (which some may deem as cruel) that has been around since 711CE. From the first session I learnt that primary research is one of the best forms of research, as it is more reliable. Additionally, you should always ask questions rather than blanky accept information presented to you.”