Our annual trip to CERN was thwarted
this year by accidents on the M5!
Through a very generous OA
donation we have been able to take groups
of Sixth Form pupils to Geneva to visit the
CERN for the last two years. Although we
did make it to the airport, we were refused
boarding, as the plane was about to leave.
A dejected group of pupils and staff had to
turn around and return to school! However,
we were incredibly privileged and honoured
that later in the academic year, once again
through OA connections, Dr Christine Sutton
and her husband Dr Terry Pritchard came
to King's to talk to our pupils. One of the
foremost scientists in the world, Dr Sutton
was Physical Sciences Editor for the New
Scientist magazine, and then spent ten years
of research and writing at Oxford University.
Since then she has been heavily involved
with work at CERN, the European Council
for Nuclear Research, and home of the Large
Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. Her
lecture included topics such as fundamental
particles, which features heavily in the A
Level Physics course, and Dr Pritchard
showed pupils some of the equipment
currently being used at CERN, including the
latest detectors and storage devices.
Our new pupils in the Third Form had a
fun day visiting @Bristol in Michaelmas
Term. They were able to explore the
exhibits as well as enjoy a short session
in the planetarium. Later in the academic
year, they were treated to a more in-depth
experience, when an inflatable planetarium
- 'Space Odyssey' - visited school, and
Simon Ould took the pupils on a wonderful
journey through space! Even the Sixth Form
were able to participate, to enhance their
understanding of the A2 Astronomy topic.
At the end of their AS studies, 6.1 pupils
visited the Diamond Light Synchrotron at
Didcot in Oxfordshire. This is a particle
accelerator, similar in principle to that at
CERN. It is at the cutting edge of science
in this country. Pupils were actually able to
stand next to the accelerators, beam lines,
magnets!
Our 6.2 pupils put the disappointment of
the cancelled trip to CERN behind them to
attend the annual Bristol University Particle
Physics master class. Pupils were able to
consider how they could design their own
particle accelerator, as well as attending
lectures. One additional highlight was lunch
- pizza delivered to the lecture room!
Imperial College GCSE student open
day welcomed a group of keen GCSE
physicists to Imperial College in London.
This involved a tour of the department, an
opportunity to talk to current students in
the labs about their current projects, and
the chance to attend lectures by members
of the department.
Our annual workshop for Year 6 King's
Hall pupils allowed them to investigate
renewable energy sources in the laboratories
and TREC cabin here at King's College.
This year saw the reintroduction of the
opportunity for pupils to take part in the
British Physics Olympiad papers. Oliver
Fox and John Hall gained Bronze level 1
and there was a Commendation for Daniel
Bidgood.
Academic Physics
By Julie Gresswell
The annual Biology field trip to the
picturesque Isles of Scilly saw 22
pupils and five teachers embark on
four days of sun, sand and ice-cream. We
left school at 5am on the Monday morning
and made our way to Penzance, where we
boarded the ferry Scillonian for the three
-hour crossing. Luckily the sea was calm,
and so sea sickness was at a minimum,
although Mr Florey still managed to find a
way to feel rather ill.
We arrived on St Mary's at midday, and after
an ice-cream on the beach we went to our
campsite and set up base, including a 12-
man tent shared between four of us, which
later gave us the nickname: 'The Twelve
Man Plan.' The afternoon involved us taking
an initial survey of the shore at Old Town
Bay, which meant an afternoon of sun on
a different beach. That evening we visited
The Mermaid, in Hugh Town, for a delicious
traditional fish & chips.
On Tuesday, like every morning, we woke
up to bacon and eggs. Cooking bacon is the
extent of Mr Florey's culinary capability, and
fortunately that was all he cooked for us.
After breakfast we thought we had better
do some field work, so we headed down to
Old Town Bay and carried out some belt
and line transects. From this, we learnt
about all the different types of species living
on the beach, including seaweed, limpets
and periwinkles. It gave Mr West a chance
to use his Go-Pro underwater and search
The Renewable Energy Workshop for King's Hall
pupils
Mr McHenry @Bristol
'Space Odyssey' planetarium visit: Annie Wagstaf,
Wura Salako, Hun Ratanakitsunthorn, Herbie
Harford, Charles Head, Edward Warmington, Sven
Witney, Luke Chilcott, William Fung and Felix Chiu
Biology
By George Pritchard, 6.1
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