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On Friday the 12th of April some pupils from year 9 were given the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Microsoft by the ICT department.  The purpose of the day was to give the pupils a taster session on games programming using their latest software ‘Kodu’.  Kodu is available as a free download for everyone.

It was a very successful day with the pupils enjoying the environment that was created along with the fantastic hospitality and welcome given by Microsoft.  After receiving an ice cream smoothie and an endless supply of sweets Nia Fenn stated “I want to live here”.  The department was given an ‘XBOX 360’ and a ‘Kinect’ for taking part in the day so pupils can play the games they eventually create.

Additionally the pupils were given an opportunity by Stuart Ball from Microsoft to lead a fantastic and impossible project.  Luckily Carys Lewis was on hand with words of Wisdom and highlighted to the Microsoft employee “anything is possible Stuart, when you believe!” Therefore some of the pupils will now be working closely with Microsoft in the near future on this impossible project.  Expect updates on their progress on the school website and possibly in the Media?

On Thursday 7th January, Year 12 pupils studying Biology went to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff to take part in a Taxonomy and Evolution Workshop.

During November, the ten Year 13 pupils studying Biology A Level visited Techniquest for a practical workshop and hands on science lesson. We learnt about DNA and its structure.  During a practical session we isolated the DNA present in the mitochondria of our cheek cells.  After isolating the DNA we learnt how to do electrophoresis.  The whole experience really brought the curriculum to life. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day, and the information we learnt will prove very useful for the forthcoming exam.

During the half term holiday, a group of pupils studying German and History A Level visited the German capital, Berlin. Four most enjoyable days were spent wandering around the sights of this exceptional city and visiting very interesting museums which were relevant to the pupils’ A Level courses. It was a memorable visit and everyone is very eager to return to this magnificent city at the heart of Europe.

On Friday October 5th, the year 11 GCSE History Class travelled to London to visit the Imperial War Museum. During this term pupils will be completing their controlled assessment on the First World War. They took part in a workshop on interpretations of the First World War led by the museum’s experts. This gave pupils the perfect opportunity to develop their research, interrogations and analysis skills through studying a number of original artifacts. We also had the opportunity to visit galleries based on the theme war at the museum.