2020-2021 Science success stories 

This year has been an unusual year for pupils at the Heathland School, like so many other pupils they have had to adapt to the ever changing learning environment. Despite this the pupils still had a really successful year in science.  

Every pupil in Year 12 Physics took part in a Virtual Particle Physics Masterclass with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.  The day started with a member of the particle physics department giving a talk on the Standard Model. This model is our best current understanding of the most fundamental particles which make up everything around us. Pupils were challenged to present any prior knowledge which they may have had and were able to have many questions answered by experts in the field. Pupils then took part in a computer workshop where they analysed real data from Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. They were able to use specialist software directly from their web browser and many pupils achieved some great results. The day concluded with a virtual tour of the laboratory - something they would have seen in person in normal years but was nonetheless an interesting experience! 

Our Year 13 Chemistry students were still able to take part in the Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad, this was run virtually but did not make it any less challenging. The aim of these competitions is to challenge and stimulate students with an interest in Chemistry to expand and extend their talents. Students worked very hard to prepare themselves and we were very pleased that students had great success with Akshay achieving a silver award.  

Science is a thriving subject at The Heathland School with more students than ever before choosing to study Biology, Chemistry, Physics or BTEC Science. We were able to celebrate a number of students beginning degrees in medicine and dentistry as well as engineering courses and we hope this will continue next year.