Founders Day 2024

This year's Founders Day was packed full of stimulating, hands-on experiences for the whole school to participate in.

One of our sixth formers has produced an article about the day:

Article written by: Kaylan | Edited by: Kalina |

On this year’s Founder’s Day, students were off timetable and participating in numerous activities along this year’s theme of Physics & Engineering. All Y12 Student Leaders and physics classes joined in, supervising guests and helping teachers throughout the day in all the different workshops. A variety of speakers and professionals across the science and engineering field came to the school to present engaging examples of the work available in STEM careers.

Some KS3 students had an engineering workshop, learning about gravity and how parachutes land on the ground safely. As groups, they made their own parachutes and released them off the side of the balcony from the 2nd floor; they held a competition where groups went head-to-head in creating the best parachute that took the longest time to fall to the ground floor, using the variety of materials available to them.

A few Year 7s took part in the STIXX Shelter workshop, it started by sketching the blueprints of a 5-person home. The houses were then constructed using rolled-up newspapers, creating a natural disaster when the group’s members couldn’t fit inside.

In the Astronauts & Rockets Workshop, years 8 and 9 learned about the conditions of sending people into space, and how their lives can be affected by it. One lucky student in the class got to wear a spacesuit, giving all a first-hand example of how difficult it becomes to see, or even scratch your nose, with a glass helmet on.

Meanwhile, groups of Year 10s were taking part in the Structural Engineering Workshop. They were using books, rubber bands and straws to create models for a structurally secure bridge. The challenge explained why bridges never get lonely with the amount of support required to hold such a great mass.

Mahnoor Saeed, an electrical engineer from McLaren Automotive, came back to the school, after previously speaking to the Year 12 Physics students in November, to talk to the Year 7 and 9 about the exciting world of Supercars and Hypercars, and how they’re engineered.

Year 7 – 9 students were in the Solar-powered Houses Workshop in the LRC. They were learning how the panels work and why installing them helps the house’s energy become self-sufficient. They then created a model house with solar panels installed on the roof as a mini-scale model.

Between break and lunch, all the students had the chance to see a science show put on by the Royal Institution in the PC. It combined science's exciting and educational elements through popping balloons, scattered marbles and even roaring blowtorches. A couple of students were brave enough to volunteer for some experiments, such as holding radioactive materials and racing to blow up a balloon secured to a classmate’s head.

A massive thank you to all the guests that came to the school, the science department for organising the day, and all the sixth form helpers.

Founders Day is run in association with Big Bang at Schools and they produced this video which features our students.