Years 10 & 11
Please scroll to the bottom of this page to see the latest correspondence for Year 10 & 11.
National Museum of Computing Trip 2022
Fifty-two Year 10, 11 and Sixth Form students visited the National Museum of Computing last Friday, home to the world's largest collection of working historic computers. Students got to follow the development of computing: from the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, to the rise of personal computing and the rise of mobile computing and the internet.
Year 12 student, Jess said "The Piggott School trip to The National Museum of Computing was a very interesting and educational experience. We were able to see the rebuilt Colossus computer and the WITCH (the world's oldest working digital computer) among many other pieces of technology.
As well as this, we took part in a fun programming workshop where we used a BBC micro-machine to program a game of snake. I enjoyed writing code in a different language using a type of computer that I hadn't used before.
I also thought that the 'Power of Primes' activity was amazing as it highlighted the importance that prime numbers play in cryptography, and it briefly taught us about the other maths involved in creating ciphers.
Overall I thought that the trip was great and the tour guides were very informative."
Other students said the highlights of the trip were:
"Experiencing the minds of computer scientists from the past."
"Programming a snake game with BBC basic."
"Learning about the history behind the enigma machines."
Activities Day - Career Pathways
On 14th October 2021, Mrs van den Berghen, Advice and Guidance Mentor at The Piggott School organised the Year 10 Careers Day with over 200 students in attendance. Each tutor group listened to 5 sessions of 30-minute presentations from various employers to broaden their horizons and get them thinking about their future career pathways.
This helps to provide our students with an up-close and personal view of a wide variety of jobs. They get to have a very insight into the world of work, learning about employability skills, values, ways to develop themselves and linking their school subjects to individual careers.
Gatsby Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers - Gatsby define a meaningful encounter as ‘one in which a student has an opportunity to learn about what work is like or what it takes to be successful in the workplace.’
Speakers included:
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Anna-May Hicks - Reading College |
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Jo Jones - Imperial College – Clinical Skills Tutor, Clinical Teacher in the Faculty Education Office, Faculty of Medicine – Imperial College, London |
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Abby Mangold - Crisis Management |
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Jo Colby – Ex-Police Officer |
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Alex Followell – ex-student - Degree apprenticeships, Intelligent Automation & Process Bionics | Consulting | Deloitte MCS Limited |
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Damon Harris and George Banks – MCFT (Talks on Apprenticeships) |
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Louise Yeadon – Finance |
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Microsoft - Tanseeha Nawazish and Mark Russell |
Year 10 Welcome Evening Video
Thought-provoking performance for students
On Wednesday 24th November, the Wokingham based charity Soulscape delivered a PSHE workshop to the Year 10 pupils. Soulscape partners with schools in Wokingham and Bracknell to help deliver effective RE and PSHE lessons, and to create a space where pupils can talk about sensitive issues. Soulscape partnered with sixth form pupils from READ College, Reading to deliver their OBJECT Workshop which explored issues around pornography, relationships and self-image.
They delivered a brilliantly choreographed, honest and thought-provoking 20-minute theatre presentation followed by a 25-minute small group discussion, led by the sixth form performers.
It was an excellent opportunity for the pupils to engage with a sensitive topic and to explore follow-up questions with leaders closer in age. The feedback from Year 10 was extremely positive, with most finding the session very helpful, educational and relatable. They appreciated the open environment, honest conversation and theatre performance that highlighted the impact of pornography on relationships in young people.
What did the students think?
"The workshop was “an excellent learning & educational experience.”
"The leaders “weren’t judgemental, and they included everyone in their conversations and discussions. They listened to everyone and were easy to talk to.”
“I thought it was a very good and enjoyable performance with a very strong message behind it. I found it very helpful to discuss these issues with non-judgemental leaders.”
"The drama students made us feel very comfortable and welcome, they allowed us to talk about anything and were very relatable to our age group.”
“They made me feel very comfortable and had good questions to discuss, it helped me a lot to talk about awkward topics with them.”
“… I think we need more of these sessions”
“100% recommend”
"I thought today's theatre production was very informative. The fact that the group was young made it more relatable and I thought their acting pointed us all to think about the issues raised. The important messages came across clearly and strongly."
Students address real world problems through CREST Award
A group of Year 10 students successfully completed their Bronze Crest Award this year and were recently awarded their certificates by Mrs Elliott (Head of KS5 Chemistry) in recognition of the successful projects they planned and executed addressing a real-world problem.
The Bronze Crest Awards introduce students to project work empowering them to work like real scientists, technologists, engineers or mathematicians. Students choose their own topic and methodologies, giving them complete freedom over their work.
Bronze projects are assessed against the CREST assessment criteria and the project process develops enquiry, problem-solving and communication skills.
This year the students’ topics included:
- Assessment of the quality of the school pond as a first step to using it as an educational resource.
- Determining how to make your own fizzy drink
- Growing food using aeroponics
- Investigation of chromatography (which is used in lateral flow tests)
- Investigation of dehydration
Not only did these students complete their topics over and above the required CREST standard, but they also did so during difficult COVID-restricted times, completing a lot of their work at home and online.
"Getting this award was such an honour and I am very proud to have received it. What I enjoyed about the challenge most, was performing the experiment and seeing how this experiment could help the people around me! It has opened some new doors as I have learnt so much from this experience." Anoushka B
Congratulations to Anoushka, Aiden, Alex, Arthur, Annabel and Evie.
U15 girls move on to round 5
Excellent football played this evening with the U15 girls progressing onto the 5th round of the Cup 1-0 Goal scorer & POM Nat.
100 GCSE art & photography students enjoyed a trip to Kew Gardens this month. According to Kew Gardens staff, Piggott students were exceptionally polite, well-behaved and considerate of others.
Kew Gardens treat for GCSE art & photography students
100 GCSE art & photography students enjoyed a trip to Kew Gardens in July. According to Kew Gardens staff, Piggott students were exceptionally polite, well-behaved and considerate of others.
The highlights for some students were:
"Getting to into the different greenhouses. They were really pretty. And the little art exhibition. That was cool!"
"Seeing the architecture. That was beautiful."
"I enjoyed taking lots of photos of plants and other interesting things I could find."
Great start to the season
Great performance from the Year 10 rugby team against a strong Highdown side. Their first fixture of the season resulted in a 28-14 win! Tries from Ethan, Dan, Aaron, Aidan and some fantastic kicking from Luke. Man of the match was Richard M with some sensational tackling!
Season off to a winning start
Fantastic start to the season for the Yr 11 boys rugby team defeating Reading Boys and Little Heath on Wednesday 6 October. All three teams played exciting rugby and were very physical.
