Eight of our Year 9 students took part yesterday in the first Excellence Academy workshop of the year. The Excellence Academy is a set of workshops designed to help develop crucial college-level study skills. Students will work with other highly able students from different schools exploring academically challenging material from a range of disciplines including science, ethics, biochemistry, history and politics.
Our students had to discuss historical events, the focus being mainly on the launching of the two atomic bombs in 1945, and express their viewpoints as to whether they could be classed as the lesser of the two evils. The team also had to practice their oracy skills by explaining the following quote: 'The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift' giving concrete examples from past and present to support their views. The second team will join us next Wednesday for another debating session. In the meantime, both teams will have some homework and research to complete.
Miss Plancke, STEM and Entitlement Curriculum Coordinator, said of the Excellence Academy: "These workshops will really help our students to get accustomed to next-level study and in widening their scope of understanding of the subject matter. I'd also like to thank the students themselves for taking the time to attend these sessions."