Diary Entry - October

Swine flu hits!

Matthew and Adam attended the Rolls-Royce dinner and had a great time. They have returned full of enthusiasm and are armed with ‘top tips’ from previous winners.

I have continued coaching Matthew and Dominic, and Chris has had a second coaching session with Rosie. Adam has also completed a full coaching cycle.

Rosie and Adam have spent a day planning a series of lessons for Year 9 and Matthew and Dominic have prepared for Year 8. Year 9 has been altered slightly. Students will still investigate DNA fingerprinting and the Chemistry of Drug Detection but the scenario will be different. Instead of solving the ‘Mystery of the Poisoned Pepperoni Pizza,’ pupils will investigate an armed robbery.

The perennial problem of time is already apparent. Matthew and Dominic spent a day writing a detailed scheme of work for Year 8. This took much longer than they had anticipated and, as a result, planning for Year 7 has not yet been completed. Thus, they have agreed to try and arrange another time after school to complete a Year 7 programme.

We have met with Phil Cockbill and Simon Pank from Rolls-Royce. Also, Rosie and I thought it was a good idea to invite our ICT geniuses (Steve and Phil) along. The meeting went really well and it was good to be able to discuss our ideas. Although nervous about the concept of using video, we have a rough idea of what we’d like to do.

Importantly, we were able to create another learning opportunity for our media students to meet Phil and Simon on November 18th.  We are going to put Rolls-Royce to work: they will spend one lesson with some A Level students conducting a question and answer session about photography, film and career opportunities. Furthermore, two students will shadow the duo for the day. This is absolutely nothing to do with our project but a fabulous opportunity that could not be missed.

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