At ¿ìÉ«ÊÓƵ’s Juniors we aim to bring Science to life, to stimulate curiosity by emphasising enjoyment through exploration.
Pupils are taught in three fully-equipped laboratories, packed with a range of outstanding modern equipment, by a team of graduate specialists. Practical work is an important part of how pupils learn to predict, analyse and draw conclusions.
Through experiments pupils experience a large number of scientific phenomena, understand the scientific method and learn how to handle scientific apparatus. ¿ìÉ«ÊÓƵ’s Juniors has a full time laboratory technician who runs the preparations room and prepares resources for practical lessons. Pupils learn about the three sciences: Biology, Chemistry and Physics. They are well prepared for their transfer to ¿ìÉ«ÊÓƵ’s School. Health and safety is paramount and the department follows approved guidelines. Close ties exist between the Science Departments at ¿ìÉ«ÊÓƵ’s Juniors and ¿ìÉ«ÊÓƵ’s School.
Clubs and Enrichment
Science is not confined to the insides of a laboratory nor to curriculum time only. Lunchtime clubs enhance the syllabus. These include a practical Science club for younger pupils, a SciFi bookclub and revision sessions. Pupils visit many places of scientific interest. In the Lower Third Year pupils take part in a field study week in the Lake District. Ecological sections of the syllabus are covered and the visit is run jointly with the Geography Department. In other years pupils have day visits to the Wetlands Centre, Whipsnade Zoo and the New Scientist Live exhibition. Opportunities exist for pupils to travel further afield on field weeks run by the Science Department in the school holidays. In recent years the Department has run trips to Iceland and NASA in Florida.