Leehurst Swan School

At the end of the Summer term, a special programme of events were arranged for pupils of all ages to mark Leehurst Swan Science Week.  A number of visitors helped to make the activities particularly interesting and varied.  The entrance to the school reception area was transformed for the occasion by a splendid display of pupils’ science work including posters, models and PowerPoint presentations, organised and arranged by Miss Ford.  

 The week began with a Year 7 Biology Fieldwork visit to Langford Lakes organised by Mrs Kaye while staff and pupils back in school were scratching their heads trying to complete the School Science Quiz, with prizes at stake, help was hard to find.  In addition, the first day saw; visitors from the INTEC Science Centre from Winchester, booked by Dr Butcher, working with Year 5 on a range of control technology tasks using class sets of special equipment and laptop computers brought in for the day; Mrs Saxon’s Year 1 class wrote instructions to program the movement of brightly coloured car robots called Constructabots; and Years 9 and 10 enjoyed a series of challenges and problems on the field organised by the Army Recruitment Team.

 Day 2 saw the arrival of Simon Ould and his large inflatable Planetarium called Space Odyssey.  Members of Key Stage 2 enjoyed inspiring visits to the Dome at various times during the day.  Meanwhile, members of the senior school began a Bridge Design challenge.  Pupils were able to construct and test virtual bridges using some excellent modelling software, with a prize for the cheapest bridge design that passed the strength test, competition was fierce.

 Friday provided a chance for Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils to visit the Space Odyssey Planetarium which should prove very helpful during the astronomy topics of GCSE Physics.  Others tried to design the winning bridge.

 On Monday 6 July, Mr Colin North, our ICT Consultant, lead sessions about radio communications with Year 9 and 10 pupils.  The sending and receiving of Morse code was practiced, the phonetic alphabet was learned and pupils held conversations over the radio waves to local amateur radio enthusiasts.  In the afternoon, Mr North worked with Year 9 observing the behaviour of sound waves, generated in various ways, on an oscilloscope screen.   We also welcomed Year 5 pupils from Bemerton St John School.  They did some interesting microscope work with Mrs Herlihy and made nylon and slime in the chemistry lab.  Following a short refreshment break, which included cakes brilliantly iced with the symbols of the elements by Mrs Candy, the visit concluded with an exciting display of flames and explosions in the chemistry lab.

 A hectic week concluded with a visit from the Royal Engineers and members of Years 9 and 10 having a chance to have a go at welding, learn about the combustion engine, see the effects of thermal imaging and test their radio communication skills while Year 8 pupils spent the day with Mr Appelbee and Miss Spring building go-karts.  For Key Stage 2 pupils, Science Week ended perfectly with an entertaining visit from the Quantum Theatre organised by Mrs Herlihy.