May 2023

Ceres Reimagine Animation Competition

We're so proud of both Cooper School teams for holding their palms up in the face of climate change as they make waves to save the planet. Well done!

March 2023

Biology Olympiad Exams

I want to say a massive congratulations to Evica Jimmi and Harmony Matheson in Year 13 who volunteered for and completed their Biology Olympiad exams last week. 

The Biology Olympiad is a national problem solving competition for A level students. The exam challenges and stimulates students with an interest in biology to expand and extend their talents. It enables students to demonstrate their talent and to be suitably rewarded with publicly recognised certificates.

Harmony has acheived the Silver grading of this award, which is only given to the top 10% of students who enter. This follows her Silver award last year in the Intermediate Olympiad, dedicated to students in Year 12.

Well done to both students - we're all very proud of you.

British Science Week

From Friday 10th March to Sunday 19th March 2023, British Science Week celebrates all things STEM. This year's theme is Connections. There are a number of events and activities taking part within school as well as the various activities open to all students online:

Mr Pearson is running a labcoat design competition for students in Years 7 - 9. Entry details are below:

Miss Brown is hosting an Essay Writing Competition for Sixth Form students.

The British Science Week website contaiins a number of activities the can be completed by all students and their friends & family members:

BSW have also produced a series of profile videos to break some of the streotypes surrounding the typical images that people bring tio mind when they think of a Scientist.

And all students have been shown a pre-recorded assembly from Mr Upstone explaining the benefits of studying Science...

January 2023

Music & the Brain

The Cooper School hosted its own Scientists in Schools event this week with a symposium chaired by Dr Kasia Lewis from the Oxford International Biomedical Centre. The morning session looked to explore the links between Science, Psychology and Music as current research scientists, Dr Patti Nijhuis and Dr Alex Bellig entertained and engaged their audience of Year 11, 12 & 13 Biology, Physics and Psychology students. 

Dr Nijhuis of Birminham University gave a talk informing us what it is about music that makes us want to "dance". I use the word dance in its loosest of senses by the way. Unlike Dr Nijhuis, I'm more of a foot tapper than a dancer, but even I can appreciate the desire to move to the beat. But why do people experience this need to move to music? It all comes down to our brains. Pretty much our entire brain is involved when we listen to music: we not only hear the sounds and patterns in the melody, or attend to the emotions evoked from our memories, but we also try to predict the timings of the beat - and it often feels good when we predict it correctly, particularly when there's just the right level of complexity to it.

Dr Alex Bellig from University College, London, followed with his own talk about the variety of emotions that music has the power to convey, and how we are starting to use music in therapeutic settings. Dr Bellig took us on a journey from how sounds are produced to how they are perceived, paying particular attention to how consonant and dissonant tonal intervals can lead to altered emotional states once we hear them played together and how these combinations can be used within movie soundtracks to alter the mood of the viewer. Dr Bellig then discussed the future of music research, suggesting that many therapies are being investigated which use music to treat a variety of neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease or dementia.

Cutting Edge Science - Oxford 2023

Another group of Biology students from our current Year 12 cohort attended a Scientists in Schools event last week, hosted again by St Edwards School in Oxford and organised by Oxford International Biomedical Centre. The students made their own transport arrangements so the report below was written by Holly.

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a Cutting Edge Science talk at St. Edwards School in Oxford. It was very interesting as we got to hear various talks from different scientists, they spoke about their careers and the current research they are working on. I found it fascinating to see how the content we learn in our biology classes is used in big research projects which can have huge impacts on peoples lives, e.g. developing cures for cancers. 

One talk that I really enjoyed was about the future of cancer therapies and how we are moving away from the cutting edge into practice. Oliver Featherstone talked about the history of cancer therapies and how research over the years has developed so much, but there is still loads to find out. The presentation showed how scientists have been treating cancers since the Ancient Greek times and how we still use ideas nowadays from hundreds of years ago. He then went on to talk about the different methods of treating cancers and how doctors are using less surgery to remove cancers. He mentioned the other ways that they treat cancers (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc) and we learnt the biology behind how they work. 

At the end, all the scientists did a Q and A where the audience got to ask them questions related to their professions. They talked about how they got into their jobs, how they balance work and social life and gave us advice on courses to pick at university. I found it very motivating to listen about the broad range of pathways along which science can lead. 

Other quotes from students attending the event were:

"I have learnt that there are other ways to treat cancer and I am sure as ever that I want to go down the biological route when I am older due to this experience" (Anna)

"It was interesting to hear from different scientists about what got them to the stage they are in their life and different areas of biology that they then went on to specialise in." (Freya)

"A 10/10 experience! I have learnt about different ways to treat cancers and other diseases in ways that I didn’t think were a thing beforehand - such as cancer vaccines. I enjoyed learning from the scientists and the different areas of biology they specialised in. Most importantly, it was exciting to hear about the future biological opportunities that will be available to us in the future." (Emilia)

Of course, one other aspect that students said they enjoyed was the free food! Comparable, they said, with eating at The Ivy. Now there's praise, indeed.

November 2022

I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here!!

Students at The Cooper School were given the opportunity to meet a group of current practising scientists via an online chat. The five scientists named below volunteered their time to answer questions as part of the organisation: I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here!

Students from various year groups were given the freedom to ask anything they wanted, enabling them to find out exactly the information that interests them.

Year 12 students asked many questions about A Level choices, University advice and the types of jobs available post degree.

Students in lower year groups asked some really great questions about the life of a scientist from how much they get paid to what types of projects they work on. They also asked some genuinely searching scientific questions about the possibilities for developing photosynthetic humans or the use of CRISPR to cure cancers.

The answer to both questions, by the way, is that it is difficult but not impossible. Photosynthetic humans sound great don’t they? - They may even solve world hunger.

The students & I would like to thank Ailish, Charli, Alisha, Matthew & Gabrielle for their time. We will definitely be back to book another session.

 The full transcript of the session is below and makes interesting reading. There are some very good questions being asked about life, university and everything. Some great answers, too. Enjoy.

September 2022

101 Jobs That Change the World