Science department

This year in St Ivo Science department we have been focusing on how to increase opportunities for students across KS4 and 5.

We wanted to give Sixth Form students something extra to put on UCAS forms and have an opportunity to go off curriculum and look at some cutting-edge science that might be relevant to the course they want to study at university.

In November we ran a highly successful poster research evening. Students researched a topic of their choice and presented on an A2 poster at an evening event set up like a science conference. We invited parents, guest judges and governors to attend and had sponsorship from local and international companies who provided prizes.

Sixth Form Physics students have also recently come back from visiting CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, a research organisation that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world

Year 11 students have been taking part in VEX Robotics competition where they had to build a robot from a kit and then compete with other schools in a competition. We finished a very respectable third place.

We are also running a STEM scholars programme for Year 10, 11 and 12 that involves opportunities to go on university visits, residential trips and workshops. Year 7 also enjoyed a visit from the ‘Chaos Road Show’ who ran a series of experiments looking at scientific phenomena aimed at enthusing and provoking curiosity early.

Edward Slingsby, Head of Science

Geography department

The Geography department is now in its fourth year of the PTI Schools Programme. Last year was a busy year with lots of new initiatives undertaken as part of our commitment to developing inspirational teaching and maximising opportunities for our students. We have continued to push students beyond the curriculum, whilst also sharing ideas and resources with other local Geography departments.

As part of our work on 'Stretch and Challenge', we had students take part in the Royal Geographical Society Young Geographer of the Year as well as the 'Discover the World' competition to win a trip to Azores. We also launched a dedicated set of 'Stretch and Challenge' activities for students to complete beyond usual homework / curriculum requirements. These have been made available through our department website and used to provide an opportunity for students to extend themselves beyond the curriculum. This has encouraged a more independent approach that enables students to take control of their own learning. 

Our new Geography Club was established in September 2016. It meets every Thursday lunchtime and is run by two members of the department. There is regular attendance by a number of Year 8 students, undertaking a number of projects focusing on a topic of their choice. We also hosted our first 'Geography film night' in 2016 with the group watching The Day After Tomorrow as a stimulus for looking at environmental change. The Geography Club have also been involved in other events, and as part of Fair-trade Fortnight 2016 they were invited to the 'Great Geography Breakfast' hosted by the Geography department.

As a department, we have also made a commitment to increasing our use of GIS and integrating more into our schemes of work, in preparation for the new GCSE and A Level. We have invested in a school license for ArcGIS and last year the department welcomed Jason Sawle, an ESRI UK Education Consultant, to explore the world of GIS in a hands-on workshop with our Year 13 students. Students became familiar with the ArcMap interface learning to create and manage maps. They also began to explore geospatial data where they plotted the location of recent earthquakes across the globe using data from the United States Geological Survey. Students also explored the 3D viewer, gaining spectacular views of many geographical landscapes across the world. As part of this, the Geography department hosted a CPD event for local Geography teachers, in conjunction with the Cambridgeshire branch of the Geographical Association. 29 Geography teachers from around the county gathered at St Ivo School to explore two main themes (i) The use of new technologies in Geography and (ii) The Integration of GIS into the Geography Curriculum - An Introduction to ArcGIS Online.

In September 2016 we relaunched our revamped GeoBytes online portal alongside new social media feeds including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. These feeds are used to celebrate achievements and the work of the department, as well as to share useful links. Our GCSE and A Level courses are also now online through Schoology with all PowerPoints and other teaching resources provided, alongside links such as web resources and videos and a discussion forum utility to support students. Students join courses through designated access codes and there is a Schoology app available. We have continued to build on this by launching Schoology courses for the new GCSE and A Level specifications, providing our students with online access to all the associated teaching materials.

Another key initiative has been raising the profile of Geography beyond KS5. Strategies have included the introduction of a Sixth-Form ambassador scheme, the establishment of a small library of 'Stretch and Challenge' books for our Sixth Form Geography students, with texts such as ‘Prisoners of Geography’, and support for students looking to study Geography at university. This has included a visit from a Cambridge University lecturer to discuss studying Geogeaphy at a higher level and through the development of a dedicated page on our website to support and raise the profile of studying Geography at university. 

Please visit our departmental page for the latest news and updates: http://www.geobytes.org.uk

Rob Chambers, Head of Geography (@RobGeog)