Maths in Action 2024

March 8, 2024/in Whole School/by Chrissy Dicks

Last Friday, a group of year 10 students travelled to London to watch an interactive maths show hosted by Maths in Action. The purpose of the event was to enhance mathematical understanding, improve problem solving skills and, above all, to raise awareness of the maths that is all around us. Students enjoyed presentations on a variety of topics ranging from Mathemusic and Maths v Sport, to The Maths of Optical Illusion Design and The Maths of Luck. There was also an Exam Masterclass in which students were invited to mark questions to see if they could spot some common pitfalls.

Questions discussed during the day included: “Are you more likely to be struck by lightning or win the lottery?”, “How many galaxies are there?” and “Which part of the goal should you aim for to maximise your chances of scoring a penalty?”. The answer to that is apparently 60cm inside the post and 1.79m high, although not everyone agreed!

Students conducted themselves extremely well throughout the day and were engaged and courteous. We hope the trip has inspired them to continue their study of maths to A Level and beyond!

Library Update

March 8, 2024/in Whole School/by Chrissy Dicks

World Book Day celebrations

In the library we celebrated World Book Day with a display of the free books available to students with their Book tokens. These were emailed to students or they can visit the library to pick up a Token. There are many great books to choose from, pop by the library to see them or go to your local bookshop to pick up a free book!

Design a book token competition

We have templates for students to design a book token for a national competition. They could win book tokens for themselves and their class and the winning designs will be seen in stores! To enter, pick up a template in the library and hand it back to us when your design is complete. The deadline for us to send in your entry is Wednesday 27th March.

Blue Peter badge

Lastly for World Book Day we have applications for the Blue Peter Book Badge in the library. If you earn a Blue Peter badge you can gain entry to over 200 UK attractions, for FREE! Pick up your Book Badge entry form in the library and bring the completed form back by Wednesday 27th March.

Year 7 Maths Challenge

March 8, 2024/in Year 7/by Chrissy Dicks

Well done to eight of our KWS mathematicians who competed in the Herts for Learning Team Maths Challenge last week (28th February). There were over 30 teams competing and we placed a respectable 22nd and 26th. Congratulations to the following students for all of your effort and enthusiasm; Lucy H, Corin N, Emma M, Matilda S, Elliott G, Lucas W, Finn J & Harrison S.

Centre of Computing History Visit.

March 8, 2024/in Year 9/by Chrissy Dicks

On Wednesday 14th February, year 9 Computing and IT students had the opportunity to visit The Centre of Computing History located in Cambridge.

The day was packed with enriching activities. Students had the opportunity to look at the development of games. They attended a workshop on the development of Robots and the uses of Robots throughout history. Students interacted with a Robot by having a conversation with her, she danced and went for a walk. We then looked at the development of technology and how devices progressed over time, the way storage mediums changed. In the final session students programmed a Raspberry Pi to flash lights and move the car.