On Wednesday 29th June 2022, 20 students and two staff flew from Heathrow terminal 5 to Geneva, Switzerland to visit CERN, the location of the largest particle accelerator in the world. We arrived in Geneva at about 6.00pm and headed to the hotel. After settling into our rooms we walked into the city and had a lovely meal in an Italian restaurant. The following morning we made our way to the outskirts of Geneva to CERN. After registering at reception we had a lecture about CERN, how it had developed over the years and what type of research it was engaged in. We were then taken to two separate projects the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (ASM) and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS).

The ASM is a particle-physics detector that looks for dark matter, antimatter and missing matter from a module attached to the outside of the International Space Station (ISS). It also performs precision measurements of cosmic rays. We then travelled across the CERN to the second site where we were taken down 200m underground to the location of the CSM, a general purpose detector at the large Hardon collider. It is designated to investigate a wide range of physics, including the search for the Higgs boson and particles that could make up dark matter.

Visiting CERN was a great experience for all of us. The students had a great time learning about CERN and having a mini tour around Switzerland.

Over the weekend the Year 11 GCSE P.E group traveled to West Sussex to take part in rock climbing, one of their chosen sports for their practical grade. They developed their skills in belaying, traversing, tying in , abseiling and different climbing techniques in addition to taking on some difficult sandstone rock climbs. Whilst developing specific rock climbing skills they also developed some key life skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving and leadership which will aid them in the future. A big thank you to Mr Perryman, Mrs Khilnani and Mr Costa for volunteering to come on the trip.