Academic Enrichment

The Patterson Prize for Recitation

The Patterson Prize for Recitation is named after Robert Patterson, a former Head of English It makes tough demands of competitors, who memorise a poem and then recite it, in a face-off not only with each other, but also with their nerves There is a junior competition, for the Third and Fourth Forms, and a senior one The quality of this year ’ s recitations were better than ever Our judge, another former Head of English – Mrs de Pelet – said that nine people could have won this year, and the supportive audience of boys and staff found several of the performances profoundly moving The close, excellent runners up in the junior competition were Ian Liu (3d) and Benjamin Brady (4d); the winner was Forest Purvis (4b) The senior cup was awarded to Harry Trudgeon (U6f) His performance of Harry Baker’s Paper People was breath-taking, even though the poem didn’t give him much of a chance to take actual breaths

Physics

In the Physics Department it has been heads down and focusing on those all too important exams this term The Upper Sixth have been pulling out all the stops to prepare for their first set of real exams, having missed out on a chance to sit their GCSEs in person. This has added extra pressure, but they have stepped up to the challenge. They should at least have the confidence that they all passed the required practical element of the course and impressed the AQA inspector when she visited at the start of term

The Lower Sixth have now completed their first year of studies and will be taking on the mantel of being the preeminent physicists in the School and should be able to support the younger boys in their respective Boarding Houses They need to use the summer to plan out their next steps and should be looking to read around the subject, seek out competitions/work experience/MOOCS, so that they can bolster their personal statements It

Is Not Enough To Simply Get The Top

grades

Well done to the Fifth Form, there are many who can breathe a sigh of relief as they are done with Physics, but I hope they take something away with them As Richard Feynman may have said, “discovering the pleasure of finding things out” is possibly the most important thing that we can leave them with

Richard Brown Head of Physics

Biology

Holway wood, a picturesque woodland located just outside Sherborne, once again played host to an enjoyable and educational adventure for the lower Sixth Form pupils The boys, armed with curiosity, a thirst for scientific exploration and a clipboard, embarked on a biology field trip that promised both practical learning and a memorable experience.

Under the supervision of their enthusiastic biology teacher, Mr Ridgway, the students delved into two fascinating experiments designed to enhance their understanding of statistical analysis and ecological relationships

The first task involved a timed search for banded and unbanded Capia Nemoralis snails, within the woodland area The boys scoured the forest floor, carefully identifying and recording the number of each snail variety they encountered This exercise aimed to provide them with the necessary data for a subsequent statistical test using the Chisquared test By comparing the frequencies of banded and unbanded snails, they would determine if there was a significant difference between the two varieties within the woodland population

Following the snail search, the students turned their attention to the lush green nettles surrounding them Along a constructed transect, they measured the length of nettle leaves in two distinct areas: a brightly lit portion and a shaded section Despite a few stinging encounters, the boys embraced the challenges presented by the nettles and were undeterred Armed with rulers, they meticulously recorded their observations

This exercise aimed to explore the relationship between light availability and leaf length, using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient By analysing the collected data, the pupils would assess if there was a correlation between the two variables This hands-on experiment allowed them to experience the scientific method first-hand, from data collection to analysis

During their exploration of the woodland, the pupils stumbled upon Red Campion, a captivating wildflower. Mr Ridgway used this opportunity to teach them about its intriguing reproductive system Red Campion is dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers grow on separate plants This unique characteristic sparked lively discussions among the pupils, who marvelled at nature’s intricate mechanisms for reproduction Through their statistical tests and observations, the Lower Sixth Form pupils had not only deepened their understanding of ecological concepts, but also has a great deal of fun in the glorious weather that adorned that particular day!

The Holway Wood biology field trip exemplifies the true spirit of outdoor experiential learning, offering an invaluable opportunity for our pupils to connect with nature, engage in scientific inquiry, and continue to foster a passion for the subject We also hope it helps them commit this information to memory, since it will be tested in their A2 examination next academic year!

Jon-Paul Manning Head of Biology

Chemistry

Well, it’s that stage of the term again: the Upper Sixth have just started their examinations, while the Fifth Form are just about to finish! From the latter there is a palpable sense of an ending and a feeling of relief, from the latter some nervy appearances in the laboratories as they iron out final queries in advance of the first paper

Normally, at this time of the year, the Third and Fourth Forms would be similarly engaged, but with their exam season coming early, due to the lack of Sports Hall facilities (due to the redevelopment), they find themselves engaging with new material as we push forwards with the IGCSE Only the Lower Sixth Form are following their usual internal examination route, with these exams just recently signed off and ready for reporting back to parents

Our Lower Sixth Form chemists have just one more timed piece of work to contend with this year: The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge; The Chemistry Olympiad’s slightly less spiteful younger sibling! A quick glance at the paper shows it to be at least as testing as in previous years, with some areas that will make the synapses fizz and crackle as the boys feel their way towards their answers All remaining Upper School chemists will attempt the paper and, as with The Chemistry Olympiad, one ambitious member of the Fourth Form No doubt the results will merit a further mention in a publication early next year

William Buckley Head of Chemistry

History

The stand-out highlights of the Trinity Term in the History Department have been the Chalke Valley History Festival trips and the Third Form renaissance exhibition

After celebrating a busy and, hopefully, successful exam season with the Fifth and Upper Sixth Form with ice creams, doughnuts and fizzy drinks, the Department’s focus turned in the final weeks to rewarding the rest of our students for their hard work and providing some extension and enrichment to their historical education Over two warm days in June, we took (almost) the entire Third Form, and the Fourth and Lower Sixth Form historians for a day of lectures, exhibitions, displays and interactive activities at Chalke Valley History Festival

As ever, this event did not disappoint and the boys all had a marvellous time (more ice cream was definitely involved)! From lectures on the Crusades and the World War One Peace Treaties to learning about East Berlin in the Cold War and handling weapons from the 1944 Normandy landings or painting an Iron Age roundhouse, this was a fantastic opportunity for the boys to delve deeper into some exciting areas of the past. They returned cheerful but tired – the sign of a good trip!

For the Third form, this was not the only chance for them to follow their own interests as each of them selected their own investigation on the Renaissance and have spent half a term researching, writing, designing and creating their exhibition, held in the Macnaghten Library The breadth and quality of the projects is excellent, with highlights including YouTube documentaries, original musical compositions and handmade artefacts alongside some impressively written essays showing real flair and analysis Well done, boys – whether this was their final foray into academic history or a precursor to their iGCSE studies next year, we are proud of you all!

Charlotte Allen Head of History

Library

Trinity Term in the library started with the Third Form completing their Classics projects, checking their sources and compiling their bibliographies.

As the Third Form moved out, the Fifth and Upper Sixth Formers moved in to begin their exam revision ahead of the public examinations Over the past two months, there have been many long hours spent revising key topics, group collaboration, and plenty of moral support

To celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, the Library and Archives collaborated to create a joint pop-up display Our talented archivist, Rachel Hassall, created a special exhibition about the role played by Old Shirburnians and Old Preppers in the many Coronations of yesteryear The display also featured books representing the interests of the new King

After the hard work of exams came the enormous fun of Super Sunday! The Library ran two extremely popular paper engineering workshops in which the children made their own snapping head mythical creature Much hilarity ensued and the children had great fun decorating their monsters and chatting about books

June drew to a close with the Third Form’s annual History project on the Renaissance Displayed throughout the Library, the exhibition features a varied selection of topics, artefacts, and audiovisual experiences and provides a fabulous finale to the year!

Sue Gransby Library Manager

Maths

with the onset of external exams for the Upper Sixth and Fifth Form, this term has been a busy one both in the Mathematics Department and for the wider School The addition of end of year internal exams for boys in the Third, Fourth and lower Sixth Form has led to a significant focus on revision and exam technique since the Easter break, but we have still managed to find a few opportunities for Maths beyond the curriculum

A number of Third Form Mathematicians enjoyed a virtual Maths show titled Around the World in 60 minutes presented by Zoe Griffiths from Think Maths During the event the boys considered how Maths links to flight paths, with a particular focus on the impact of the curvature of the Earth when it comes to finding the shortest distance between two places Boys also had the opportunity to explore the topic of Fractals examining coastlines of islands and land masses themselves

Meanwhile, boys from the Lower Sixth Further Maths sets have continued to work on more challenging mathematical problems Supplementing their study of the curriculum with step level questions will undoubtably help them prepare for the admissions tests many will be taking in the latter half of this year

Paul Spencer Head of Mathematics