Over Easter holidays, our History Department challenged students to undertake the national ‘Hard Boiled Humanities’ competition. Once again the students have excelled themselves. This creative challenge was to recreate a historical scene or character(s) using hardboiled eggs. Students were encouraged to be as creative as possible. Below are a few select pictures of some really impressive examples that I’m sure will bring a smile to your face.

• Our joint winners were Katie P (Henry VIII and his wives) and Jess G and Megan H (The Suffragettes).
• Our runners up were Amy S and Ruby B (Queen Victoria), Brendan W (The Beatles on Plymouth Hoe) and Jon T (Scott of the Antarctic).
• Commendations go to Erin S (The Mona Lisa), Ryan M (the Moon landing), Emilia S (Donald Trump), and Jack W (the Crucifixion).

A big thank you and and a huge well done to everyone who took part.

A large group of students visited Barton Hall for a residential weekend to develop their social skills, encourage team working and support resilience development. Our older students supported and mentored the younger students throughout the weekend. The students and staff put the group motto ‘Together as One’ into action. There were some really challenging (and at times terrifying) activities but the students embraced them and overcame fears. A huge thank you to all the people who made this trip possible. Mrs Wilkins, who led the trip, said “I am very grateful for the generosity of all who gave up their weekend to help and support our young people. I also want to celebrate the outstanding behaviour from the students”.

The young people took part in a variety of challenges including raft building, climbing and abseiling, as well as other activities that included aeroball and a sensory trial. There were so many examples of our young people supporting each other. The group leaders selected the following people to particularly mention for praise:

• Jessica G
• Finley D
• Charlotte B
• Navi N
• Ethan M
• Maddie C

Well done to everyone involved.

During A-level Chemistry lessons this week, the ‘Spectroscopy in a Suitcase’ Outreach Programme gave our Year 12 Chemists the chance to learn about spectroscopy, through hands-on experience. Also covering the principles of spectroscopic techniques, the activities used real-life contexts to demonstrate the applications of the techniques e.g. airport suspect powder testing, athletes’ urine samples and detecting fake paintings. University of Plymouth students and staff delivered the workshop and were able to give both course and career guidance to students considering studying chemistry, and also highlight the career opportunities available with chemistry qualifications. This session was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Maybe some of these students will be future Crime Scene Investigators!

For our students of the week this Friday, we have chosen the architects and designers (named at the start of the blog) of those wonderful historical eggs! Well done to all of you.