The three trainee teachers (one GTP and two PGCE students) we have had in the department this year have all achieved qualified teacher status; one achieved 1 (outstanding) and the other two achieved a 2 (good). As usual they have taught us as much as we teach them.
Curriculum
The department was approved to award the BTEC qualification, thanks to the hard work of Dr Jo Williams (2i/c).
We have just heard that our trial Year 11 group of 9 students who took the BTEC certificate (the equivalent of 2 GCSEs) have all been successful. The fact that we now have two dedicated teaching assistants has helped us to achieve this and will prove a crucial factor in the future success of the course. At present, now that we have fewer classes, we are using TA support where available to help with underperforming BTEC students in Year 10, to ensure they are up to date with their work in preparation for Year 11.
Extra Curricular Activities
Just before Easter twelve of our Year 11, 12 & 13 students secured a place at the semi-finals of a competition organised by the European Space Agency, Youth Exploring Science and Imperial College. The prize for the winning team was a trip to NASA in Houston, Texas. Unfortunately we didn’t win but the students all had an inspirational weekend at Imperial College working as a team with students from the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School for Boys from Barnet. They all worked really hard to solve the problem given to them and they learned lots of new science skills as well as developing their team working skills and knowledge of how companies work. The members of the team who will still be in school next year are all fired up and are brimming over with ideas for next year’s competition. So who knows, the sky may not be the limit for some of them!
