It’s been an Autumn Term of exciting STEM activity at Harrodian, as Head of Science, Mr Jak Cooper reports.
In October, ‘New Scientist Live’ annual exhibition made an exciting start to the year for our 13s (Year 9) pupils (below) as it was packed with frontline innovations and inspiring talks that foretell the future of science and it’s been an exciting term all round.
Our Chemistry team prepared all term to compete in Round 1 of the ‘Top of the Bench’ competition at St Paul’s School. The dedication proved worthwhile with the team (below) placing 4th out of a very strong field of 13 good schools, a performance – our strongest ever – from which Harrodian can take plenty of pride and much encouragement.
In November on World Science Day, we were captivated by a series of magical phenomena and happenings provided by guest speaker Andrew Szydlo (below and top) at our awareness assembly and in a series of special lessons that followed. Our Lower Prep pupils experienced the wonders of Chemistry first-hand and the 10s were launched into space by Mr Whelan who speculated on the existence of extraterrestrial life on other planets.
Lower 6th Chemistry student trips included a visit to Kings College to hear about ‘Click Chemistry’ (below) and our annual outing to the A-Level Science Live event at the Emmanuel Centre (above) where we heard lectures on everything from climate change to the dirty secrets of Nerve Agent Chemistry.
Many more events will follow next term including the 11s Science Fair and our Science Career event in March; an A-Level Biology pathology museum visit; a 14s GCSE Science Live trip; and competitions including our Chemistry Olympiad and the 14s Chemistry Challenge. We will keep you posted.
The Science team loves to work closely with our community and invites parents and relations with a STEM-related career (including general business, finance, and legal backgrounds) to join us in growing our Careers, Information, Education, and Guidance provision through the Science Careers Fair. If you would like to find out more, please contact Rachel Snaith or Mr Cooper via website@harrodian.com.