Geography trip to Bristol Posted on October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 by Anne Cleary Year 10 Geography students had an exciting trip around Bristol Harbourside measuring the impact the redevelopment of this area has had on the city. Students were tasked with independently collecting data at different locations around the harbourside. The data collection methods that students implemented were conducting wellbeing surveys to get a feel for the area, environmental quality surveys to judge the quality of the environment at each site against a range of indicators and footfall surveys to gauge how popular each site was. Students then had a spot of lunch and an extended retail therapy session in the afternoon at Cabot Circus as due to Covid they were unable to ask the locals their opinion on whether the redevelopment of Bristol Harbourside had been a social and environmental success.
Speakers for Schools Posted on October 15, 2021October 15, 2021 by Anne Cleary Today we welcomed Mr Arthur Snell to school to talk to our Y9 students about what History can lead to as an academic subject, and about his various roles with the British High Commission, and as a diplomat, particularly in Afghanistan. We are very grateful to him for giving his time to us, and we particularly enjoyed hearing about how Afghanistan and 9/11 are connected, and the complications faced by diplomats around the world.
Visiting Speaker Posted on October 14, 2021October 14, 2021 by Anne Cleary Every Tuesday we welcome a visiting speaker as part of our ‘BETA Talks’ initiative, which is designed to introduce Y11 students to the huge variety of opportunities awaiting them. All our speakers are connected with The Dorcan Academy in some way – parents, neighbours, staff, partners of staff, friends of parents, governors. We were delighted to welcome Mr Pagett, a firefighter, to school this week. His message was clear – work hard, get as many qualifications as you can, and work out what you do best so that you end up being paid to do something you enjoy! He agreed to get dressed in his uniform if the students asked good questions which they did! Thank you Mr Pagett – we appreciate the time you gave to our students! Mr Pagett
Oxford Visit Posted on October 6, 2021October 6, 2021 by Anne Cleary On Tuesday 5 October, a group of our Year 10 students went on a trip to Oxford University to see for themselves what is on offer to them at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. We were invited to Merton College where we looked round their grounds, saw the garden table where Tolkien wrote some of his books, the beautiful chapel and the dining room. Our host let the students hear the sounds their magnificent chapel organ can produce and students then had the opportunity to ask questions about courses at Oxford, the admissions process and the life changing opportunities. We then walked to the Bodleian library; where we were given a brief introduction to the history and content of the library and then spent time looking at the two exhibitions – one on The History of Melancholy, and the other entitled ‘Roots to Seeds’. This visit opened our students’ eyes to the options available to them at university, and as ever, they were a credit to the school. Here are some of their comments from our students about the day: “It was very informative mainly because the teachers were able to give me information and I found out things about the Joint Honors Law degree I want to do, which was really interesting”. “I had fun because I got to go to a university which I might go to when I’m older”. “It was exciting as I learnt new things about going to university”. “It was amazing as I got to learn more about my future degree”. “It made me realise how many opportunities I have in terms of university”. “I liked going to the cathedral”. “I liked exploring a new place”. “It was good because it opened up more opportunities for me when I’m older”. “I realise I can go to places like Oxford University”. “I learned about the possibility of going in to performing arts without maybe going to a performing arts school [perhaps doing English and doing drama as a ‘hobby’]”.
Science Fun Day Posted on October 6, 2021October 6, 2021 by Anne Cleary On Saturday 2 October we had 15 family teams visit us for our Family Fun Science event held in our new, state of the art, laboratories. We are all very proud of our new facilities. A fun time was had by all, with parents and their children working together to identify the mystery chemicals and building their own working lighthouses, which they were able to take home as a souvenir of their morning with us. The outstanding winners were a joint year 6 student team and their Mum, The Science Buddies. The Science Buddies identified all the chemicals correctly, in record time and built the tallest working lighthouse. Well done The Science Buddies! We hope to welcome our year 6 families in the future for more exciting events so please watch this space. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing all the year 6 students at our Christmas concert when they will be invited up with their year 6 teachers. Mekela Lee (Transition Lead)
