Year 9 's Activity Week 2 events

This has been a busy and varied week for Year 9 Monday  which began with an English day for students to explore ‘Macbeth’ in groups of 16 in a drama workshop, as preparation for their study of the play  in Year 10. This was followed by a trip to Orpington Cinema to watch the recent National Theatre Live production with David Tenant and Cush Jumbo. Once complete, students returned to school for a second drama workshop. 

On Tuesday Year 9 took part in a  Maths Interhouse Team Challenge competition in the Great Hall.

On Wednesday they took part in a carrousel of three activities: PE/Gams, Careers and Computing. During the Careers session, which focused on Career Choices and Experiences with Employers students were given an insight into the world of work and heard from Deputy Headteacher, Mr Budds about factors influencing career decisions  and were encouraged to build on their aspirations and explore career opportunities in more detail through challenging stereotypes. 

During their Computing session, students undertook an exciting App Design and Development Project aimed at nurturing both creativity and critical thinking. They worked on designing a prototype mobile app  addressing a real-world issue—such as mental wellbeing, study support, or sports organisation, and throughout this project, had the opportunity to develop key skills which included

• Creative design of intuitive user interfaces
• Computational thinking, breaking the app functionality into parts and using Python 
• programming language
• Problem-solving, by identifying user needs and crafting effective solutions
• Digital responsibility, with a focus on data privacy and ethical app usage

On Thursday and Friday of this week , Year 9 will also have the opportunity to visit a Hindu Temple, supporting their GCSE studies, and several  hands on Science experiences. Today they met a four meter Burmese python,  as well as a royal python, bearded dragon, blue tongued skink and giant snail!

Their Science - Rockets, Rates and Reptiles activities involves a whole day of Science activities for Year 9 to broaden their understanding.  Students will make and launch rockets with the Physics Department. Chemistry will see them challenged with a technical practical in which they will investigate how changing reaction  conditions can impact reaction rates. The Biology Department will be joined by Reptile Events  who will introduce students to some reptilian friends. Students will also meet battery  researchers and scientists working on contaminated sites to get inspired by possible STEM careers.

Their visit to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple in Neasden which is one of the largest and most ornate Hindu temples outside India. offers the experience of sitting in the main worship hall to watch the daily arti (worship) service, followed by a talk  with Q+A and opportunities to explore the temple and to visit the Understanding Hinduism exhibition.