CERN trip
At four in the morning fourteen year 11 students set off to Gatwick to catch a flight to Geneva for a day visit to CERN, the world’s biggest science experiment and main centre for the study of particle physics and credited with the discovery new particles such as the Higgs Bosun, which help us know more about the nature of the universe and the Big Bang. After a short bus and tram journey, we arrived at the Swiss part of CERN, and our tour began with a visit to two exhibitions about the work of CERN, with up to date interactive displays, films and materials used in experiments.
We then went for lunch at the CERN canteen mingling with the research staff in the Swiss September sunshine. Next, we were lucky enough to meet a real Dr of Physics, Dr Eduard Simioni, who has been working with and at the centre since 2005. He answered questions, shared his life experience and introduced us to the main achievements at CERN. The day was interspersed with excellent audiovisual presentations, but then the real substance of the tour began: firstly, a visit to the synchrocyclotron, one of the first particle accelerators which started being used in 1956 and was accelerating particles using magnetic and electric fields until the 1990s. So heavy is the structure that rather than dismantling it, they have just built new offices around it and it now forms a fantastic display about the early experiments.
We then went on a 20-minute bus ride into France to the other side of the 27km circumference Large Hadron Collider, (LHC) to visit the CMS detector. This is an all-purpose detector with a muon focus sitting 100m underground. Since it is undergoing maintenance, we were able to go down in the lift to see the detector itself, a marvel of engineering, which made the synchrocyclotron seem tiny. Many students even went into the control room, as although there are no particle collisions taking place they are still testing the detector using natural cosmic rays.
We drove back into Switzerland and took the bus and tram back to Geneva airport to take a plane back to Gatwick and conclude what Will, one of the students, said was a very long yet fascinating day!
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Click here to download the Year 11 after school revision programme for the spring term.
Year 6 Hove Park Taster Sessions Monday 7th October and Tuesday 8th October, 3.45pm-4.45pm
Hove Park School students celebrate their GCSE results! The staff at the school would like to congratulate our students for the hard work that has seen so many achieve success in their GCSEs. They can now celebrate gaining the qualifications that will take them on to the next stage of their education at sixth form or college! Once again, the exam results of students at Hove Park School are in-line with the national average, with 67% of all grades marked as passes. Head teacher Jim Roberts praised the hard work of both the students and staff. He said: ‘I am very proud of the students and their achievements. They have shown incredible resilience and determination in navigating the challenges of the last few years. These results are a true reflection of student commitment to their studies, high-quality teaching and caring pastoral support. We wish them all the very best and look forward to hearing about all their future successes’ Brighton and Hove Secondary Headteachers are jointly celebrating the achievements of our students. We are thrilled to jointly celebrate the remarkable achievements of our students across Brighton and Hove. Through steadfast partnership and collaboration, our schools have collectively ensured that every child in our city has access to a high-quality education, enabling them to make significant progress. We take immense pride in the exam results this year, which reflect fantastic levels of attainment and achievement across all schools in Brighton and Hove. These results are a testament to the hard work and resilience of a brilliant group of students, as well as the unwavering commitment of our schools to joint practice development and collaborative efforts for the benefit of every young person in our city. The success of the 'Class of 2024' is a shared accomplishment, and we are extremely proud of each student. We wish them all the very best for their future endeavours and are confident that they will continue to thrive and excel.