When our boys get to Sixth Form, they are fortunate to have the option to study the International Baccalaureate (IB). Boys who choose the IB route benefit from a holistic approach to education, and one of the three essential elements of the programme is Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS), which aims to help students develop into curious, knowledgeable and caring young people who contribute to making the world a better place.
To fulfil the ‘service’ strand of their CAS, over the years our boys have volunteered and worked within the local community undertaking activities ranging from crucial conservation work to helping disabled children learn to horse ride.
This year, due to Covid restrictions, the boys have had to think a bit more creatively about how they work within the community, and, after recently completing their Science Group 4 Project, they decided they would like to share their knowledge with other children in the local community. With the help of their biology teacher, Mr Palmer, they teamed up with The Hills Academy, a local primary school, and arranged a video link-up to present their science projects.
The boys’ presentations were informative and funny, and written in a simple yet engaging way, which perfectly suited the age of the audience.
The project subjects were:
- The Martian: the science behind space travel
- The science behind David Blane’s ascension
- How many nuclear bombs would it take to destroy the world?
- The dangers of scuba diving
Chloe Simpson, teacher at The Hills Academy, said, “The Year 6s thoroughly enjoyed the presentations given by the Year 12 students. The presentations were thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking and led to some really interesting discussions afterwards.”
Mr Parker, also a teacher there, added, “It was lovely to see a ‘cool’ side to science and for the children to learn about science topics that aren’t usually covered.”
At the end of each presentation, the boys encouraged the children to ask questions via the ‘chat’ facility on Microsoft Teams. Questions were plentiful, not to mention weird and wonderful, and our boys diligently answered each one with astonishing speed – proving that they had researched their topics well.
“The presentations were really intriguing and entertaining to watch. We learnt something new!”, one of the Year 6 pupils at The Hills commented afterwards.
The presentations were then judged, with the winning project being ‘The dangers of scuba diving’ from a team comprising of Ethan Ofusu, Marcus Gurney, Deimis Sukys, Nathan Sankersingh and Orlando Williams.
One child said, “I learnt so much new information and I never realised that SCUBA stood for different words.”
