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Science Summer School
Ankita Redla, L6W
In the summer holidays,
several Bancroft’s Sixth
Formers, accompanied
by Mr Choy embarked on
a trip. Firstly, on Monday
16 July we went to the St
Paul’s Way Trust School
for the Science Summer
School. On Tuesday, the
event was in the Here
East complex we have
all seen when heading
into Westfields, in the
Olympic Park.
The trip was an exciting opportunity to expand our scientific knowledge and gain an
appreciation of the importance of science in all aspects of our lives. To start off we
were given an introductory speech by Professor Brian Cox OBE, distinguished for his
career in science broadcasting on television. We were then split into two groups, our
group going to the lecture theatre first. We listened to multiple lectures all on different
topics, ranging from the solar system to the science behind skyscrapers. A particularly
interesting talk was one by Professor Frances Balkwill, OBE, professor of Cancer Biology.
She spoke of immunotherapy being the possible cure to cancer. There were also several
workshops throughout the day, covering various topics. We attended the interactive
workshops on cancer screening and augmented reality; this widened our knowledge on
these topics. To end each day we received a closing speech from Professor Brian Cox,
all of us leaving having gained much more insight. We would like to thank Mr Choy for
organizing and accompanying us on this trip.
Science Museum
Nimran Dhaliwal, L4S and
Sejal Odedra L4N
On Tuesday 12 June, a group of
twenty four Removes went on a
trip to the Science Museum. The
day comprised of a flying simulator;
a ‘Who am I?’ exhibition about
DNA and genealogy; an exciting
visit to the Wonder Lab (which
included a show on explosions)
as well as an intriguing IMAX film
on Space. We started the day by
entering a flying simulator in which
we learnt about the physics of
planes in a realistic way – it was
as if we were the pilots of the
aircraft. Some of us even went in a
360 degree rotating capsule, which
simulated movement in space.
A favourite part of the trip was the visit
to the Wonder Lab, where we were
given the opportunity for an interactive
experience. There were lots of displays
which taught us many things about the
different aspects of science. We particularly
enjoyed riding down three slides, with
different materials on each of their surfaces
- grass, wood and plastic. This taught us in
an engaging way about friction affecting
acceleration. Afterwards, we watched an
entertaining show that taught us through
fun experiments about explosions. We
finished the trip with an IMAX movie based
on astrology and space. The movie taught
us about the importance of stars and the
fact that without them no one or nothing
could exist. Another interesting feature of
the movie was its focus on how planets and
stars allow us to discover the past.
We had a great day and thoroughly
appreciated the wonderful experience; a
huge thank you to Dr Ismail and Dr Ahmed
for arranging the trip and accompanying us
on it.
4 STEM
Visit From
the Mobile
Planetarium
Jemima Strong, U4W
We were always told in the Prep School
to ‘never stop looking up’, that if we
walked around with our heads down
we wouldmiss somuch our world had
to offer. That was certainly true on the
afternoon of Wednesday 20 June when
we were literally stargazing in a state-
of-the-art mobile Planetarium.
A huge dome was constructed in the
Great Hall in which the wonders of the
universe were shown to us. The numerous
constellations were projected onto the
ceiling of the dome so that we felt as if we
were actually travelling through space. Each
Lower Fourth class in turn was taught how
to stargaze and what to look out for in the
sky at night. We were given lots of amazing
information on the planets and how they
orbit and also had the opportunity to look
and touch various artefacts from outer space,
such as moon rock.
This immersive experience was literally
‘out of this world’ and really captured
my imagination. It enabled us to explore
science, astronomy and geology in a fun and
interactive way.