Monday 22nd - Friday 26th of September

CCA's have started this week at school and once again there is vast array of activities on offer for our pupils. Mr Springall was delighted to see so many Year 9 girls trying out for the U15 Dragon's basketball team. I am sure he will be expecting great things from them again this year!

 

The 'most popular' CCA at school once again appears to be the over-subscribed Chemistry Club. To accommodate such large numbers the group has now split into two with Mr Donaldson and his assistant Mr Robinson taking the older pupils, which includes a good number of Year 9's.

This term Chemistry Club will be working on the RSC Global experiment 2014: the art of crystallization. Details of the project can be seen here:

http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/collections/experimentation/collaborative-chemistry/global-experiment-2014

In other Science related news, Mr Fernandes and his Year 9 group have been having a great time exploring the biochemistry of macromolecules. The kinesthetic activity (pictures below) of building the individual units and then condensing them together to build a macromolecular chain certainly helps cement an understanding of the concept.

 

 

I also had the opportunity to pop into Dr. Mason's Biology lesson this week. Her Year 9 class were looking at food tests and just about to start an experiment to investigate the presence of reducing sugars using Benedict's reagent.

 

Year 9 CAMP Update!

All pupils should have brought an updated packing list for the Year 9 camp home with them this week. The list is also viewable below. Pupils will learn more about the activities that they will do during camp week in the Year 9 assembly next week.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1I5bAMjrTiESndxRU9pQ202U0U/edit?usp=sharing

Merits and Attendance Update!

Miss Holden's form 9G are still holding onto the lead for most merits this term, whilst second place is very close between 9M, 9P and 9S! There looks to be a positive correlation between merit totals and form attendance levels. I strongly encourage parents to ensure that all pupils attend as fully as possible. It is not surprising that the more successful / thriving pupils are the ones with the best attendance records!