Congratulations to 16 Upper Sixth boys who recently achieved merits – the top-ranking score – in the British Physics Olympiad ‘Physics Challenge’. In total, 30 boys competed, and all passed the national challenge.
The question paper, sat under exam conditions, is designed to test the students’ thinking and observational skills, and encourage them to further develop the ideas they are learning about in their A-level course. Their success is demonstrative of their great problem-solving skills and is also a springboard for future competitions, including BPhO Round 1 of the British Physics Olympiad.
Head of Physics, Dr Palmer, commented, “I am so impressed with the performances of all the students who took part, especially the handful of Lower Sixth Physicists who chose to step up to the challenge and demonstrated calmness and resilience when faced with such challenging questions. I hope all who took part enjoyed the experience and are ready take their problem solving to the next level in future competitions run over the course of the year in the Physics Department.”
The challenge was based around the Year 13 curriculum but designed to develop problem solving skills and for boys to develop a deeper understanding of the ideas and applications of physics.
Yonathan Sileshi, who was our top scoring pupil, explained how it was Mr Watson who encouraged him (and the boys) to compete to “see where they go with their knowledge”.
Yonathan said, “When I first saw the paper I was overwhelmed. I thought ‘where do I start?’ But then I thought, ‘let me just try’ and so I just went for it and wrote everything I could think of including some pretty unique solutions! I think it was down to sheer determination that I gained my high mark. I used the full amount of time allowed and really thought hard about my answers. I was completely shocked to learn that I scored the highest in school! It was a real confidence boost.”