Beyond the Syllabus

The department has always recognized the value of education beyond the confines of exam syllabi, and all teachers stretch and challenge learners in the course of lessons with material extra to the requirements of the exam boards.  In addition we run an Astronomy Club, and a Physics Colloquium, we organize visits to places of interest, and can work on projects with individuals or groups of students where a particular idea has fired imagination.  We shall be entering students in the Physics Olympiad & Challenge tests and also hope to prepare entries to the Paperclip Physics and SciCAST competition which involve the students in preparing physics related presentations (either in person or as movies).

Support for Pupils

The department organizes a Physics Clinic where students can come to request help with their understanding.  Some sessions are geared to a particular issue (e.g. Forces & Motion at GCSE or Preparation for PHY4 resit in Year 13), others are open to all questions.  Outside of this, all teachers are ready and willing to meet up with students to help them with any areas of difficulty they may have.  We also have a range of resources (e.g. different textbooks, websites) which can be of use to students.

We currently have examination revision sessions running to support Yr 11 and Yr 13 students who wish to have some final guidance before their exams.

Astronomy Club

The club meets after school on Mondays on the Physics floor of the Science Building.  A whole variety of astronomical topics are discussed, and thanks to its leader - Mr Glendining - it has a growing collection of equipment including a Refracting Telescope, a Solar Telescope and a sextant...

Physics Colloquium

This is a voluntary group of mainly sixth form physics students (though all are welcome) at 13:45 on a Monday in P1.  Problem solving methods are discussed and applied to tricky issues in Physics with a view to developing thinking skills.  This is particularly useful for those preparing for university interviews, but fun for all...  We use other sessions to expose students to ideas in physics which will be new - for example, fluid flow, special relativity, cosmology to name but three.

Physics Olympiad

The department takes part in this academically rigourous national competition each year.  This year Ed Higson gained one gold medal in the Year 11 Physics Challenge; Joseph May gained a gold in the Year 12 Senior Physics Challenge; while Ed Higson and Marek Chiu gained silver medals in the Year 12 competition; Alastair Hay-Plumb and Brian Lee gained bronze medals in the Year 11 competition; and Simon Jennings, Tom Sears and Geraint Evans won first class bronze medals in the Year 13 Physics Olympiad.  Our Year 12 Gold Medallist, Joseph May, was in the top five nationally, and received his award at a special ceremony at the Royal Society.  Our last student to gain a place on the British team for the International Physics Olympiad, Claude Warnick, gained an Silver medal in that competition.

Visits

Recent visits include

Year 12 trip to Oxford University to visit the Materials department and the teaching telescope

Year 13 trip to GE Healthcare to see science in action in a medical and commercial setting.