The Year 9 and 10 Astronomy GCSE students recently visited the Royal Observatory Greenwich to discover its importance in the history of astronomy. The observatory is, of course, famous for the Greenwich meridian from where longitude is measured f. The brass line in the courtyard is, however, not in the current location of the meridian used by modern navigation systems. The current true 0° longitude lies 102.5m east of this in Greenwich Park, and using a GPS we found the true meridian and lined up along it, one foot in the east and one foot in the west.

In the observatory grounds we were perfectly in time to hear about the time ball and its importance for ships to set their time pieces before heading out to sea. The ball rose half way up its mast five minutes before one o’clock and to the top at 2 minutes to go. At precisely 1 o’clock the ball dropped and the ship captains below in the Thames would set their clocks.

We then found John Harrison’s clocks. These clocks were the first to accurately keep time at sea, essential for determining longitude. He dedicated his life to developing these clocks and his invention saved countless lives He eventually won a £25,000 prize from the government! His H4 clock (pictured) is one of the most important instruments ever made.

We also had a look at the Great Equatorial Telescope and the Camera Obscura before our booked planetarium show to learn more about the solar system, galaxies and the universe. This was a very informative and beautiful show but also very relaxing and several students (and staff!) may have dozed off briefly!!

This is the first time we have made this trip and the students had a wonderful time. The experience was perfect for bringing their classwork to life.

Year 11 – Friday 21 March

Year 11 Navy cadets travelled for an action packed day at the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth ahead of their public exams. The enjoyed some sea air on a harbour tour of the Royal Navy dockyard, where they were able to see the two aircraft carriers up close. They also visited two significant ships in the history of the Royal Navy, HMS Victory and Warrior.  The highlight was then three intense games of Lazer Quest in the cargo ship reconstruction in the Royal Marine museum. Fun was had by all!

Year 10 – Friday 28 March

Our Year 10 CCF Navy Cadets visited the Royal Navy headquarters at HMS Excellent on Whale Island in Portsmouth for their field day.

In the morning, they were given some Maritime Compartment Clearance (MCC) training. In the morning they were given a talk by a Chief Petty Officer who was involved in anti-piracy operations and interceptions, He gave the cadets training in how to intercept and board a vessel with potential hostiles. The cadets then put this training into practice by storming a physical mock-up of a ship, looking for potential contraband items, hostages and potential hostiles using nerf guns. Miss Maunders played a particularly bravura performance as “hostile B” who ambushed our cadets from behind a pile of cardboard boxes.

The afternoon was then spent enjoying the sea breeze with some land sailing. The cadets had to assemble and then put their sailing skills to the test using BloKarts. Some impressive speeds and manoeuvres were achieved, along with a few capsizes.

Last week, Year 12 Geography students visited Stratford and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to look at different places’ characteristics and approaches to regeneration as part of their Unit 2 Changing Spaces topic. Students tried a range of fieldwork techniques including pedestrian observations and land use tallies.

Rory said, “It was really interesting to see how the rebranding of the area had affected places differently and to better understand why some areas were opposed to the regeneration project.”

Some 30 A Level Literature students, and Dr Williams, Mr Robbins and Mr Clayton, enjoyed a riveting production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale at the Old Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol last week. Highlights of the night included a pre-bus Co-op dash, the spoils of which sustained us until we were able to procure some ice cream in the interval, and – much to Mr Randall’s chagrin – our speedy trip home, which brought us up to the school gate just 50 yards ahead of his own trip to see a West End Oliver! made it back. Numerous M4 updates had been exchanged and the tension peaked near the Vodafone roundabout about who was in the lead. The culinary delights of the evening included Mr Clayton and several students snaffling their sandwiches in the swanky bar area before being rumbled with only one order of chips between them.

The play itself was a hit. As a tragicomedy, The Winter’s Tale hinges on a jarring contrast between the tragic first half and a comedic second. This was marked adroitly by the cast – the first three acts heartrending and violently emotional, the last two full of slapstick humour, emphasising the healing force of time. The bus journey back involved a sometimes heated colloquy about the various adjustments made by the director, Heidi Vaughan, to Shakespeare’s original scripts – some characters changed gender, some speeches were cut and lines reassigned, and roles were doubled. While we didn’t agree with all of these (and not amongst ourselves either), the production was carefully conceived, resulting in new ways of considering the text that will undoubtedly be useful in our essays. That noted, Winter’s Tale fan-boy, Mr Robbins, also delighted (in tour-guide mode) in pointing out Ashton Gate stadium and a glittering Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Performances run until March 29 at The Tobacco Factory