Science College
Dr Challoner’s Grammar School became one of the first Specialist Science Colleges in 2002 and was redesignated as a Science College in 2007. As a leader in its field, DCGS works with other Primary and Secondary Schools across the county to raise the levels of teaching and learning in this area.
Together with Buckinghamshire County Council’s School Improvement Service, we run the Triple Science network which involves supporting and providing resources and in service training for other local schools so that the number of their students studying individual science increases. We are also responsible for the running of the Bucks Science and Bucks Technicians Networks.
Students benefit from a number of activities outside the classroom. Year 7 Science Club is especially popular with over 90 boys participating on a regular basis. Aided by a number of Sixth Form Students, many new and different experiments and investigations are carried out to test problem-solving skills.
During 2008, the school was fortunate to be able to borrow the Brainiac camera and was able to create a film exploring science in action. This included footage of balloon rockets, caesium reacting with water and a detailed look at the movement of muscles in everyday activities. This has proved to be an invaluable teaching resource.
In addition, dedicated funding enables us to enhance the Science Curriculum by offering a number of additional activities to our students. Over the last year, this has included the following:
- A lecture from scientists based at Bristol University entitled “A Pollutant’s Tale”.
- A link with the Scientific Exploration Society before, during and after their expedition to track and identify elephants in Borneo.
- Participation in National Science and Engineering Week looking at the decline in honey bee numbers.
We are fortunate in having links with a number of companies which provide us with support. These include the following: GE Healthcare, Bosch and BSKYB.