KING’S Ely Senior students were able to attend two fascinating talks on March 9th thanks to our co-curricular and enrichment programme.
Dr Roger Johnson, a Lecturer from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences at University College London, visited us to deliver a brilliant talk, entitled ‘Quantum Physics in the Material World’, to our Round Table Lecture Society.
Dr Johnson started by posing two fundamental questions pertaining to what the world is and how it works. He then explored these themes in their complexity, looking at how we understand matter and its properties at a quantum level, discussing wave-particle duality – the inability of the classical concepts ‘particle’ or ‘wave’ to fully describe the behaviour of quantum-scale objects. He then discussed quantum materials and how they can be used. Dr Johnson’s talk was well-pitched and challenging throughout.
Our Round Table Lecture Society was launched in 2021 to provide a platform for a series of after school academic extension lectures for Senior students to attend in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms.
History Café also met on March 9th. History Café is for Senior students who have a passion for History and who want to explore the subject at every opportunity. March 9th’s talk, entitled ‘Beachy Head Woman, Ivory Bangle Lady and other stories of Black Roman Britons: exploring racial diversity in Ancient Roman Britain’, was given by Elisabeth Tyrrell, Teacher of Classics at King’s.
Ms Tyrrell’s well-delivered and engaging talk brought home the wide ranging diversity of the Roman Empire as she explained how interconnected the provinces were, which facilitated the spread of people throughout its borders. Students learned how African legionaries were stationed on Hadrian’s Wall and of archaeological work that has shown Roman Britons to have hailed from all across the Empire.
The co-curricular and extra-curricular scene at King’s, both during and after school, is vast. Our Pre-Prep children enjoy activities like Forest School, Musical Sparklers and Engineering Club; Junior children enjoy clubs like Archery, Pottery and Golf, and Senior pupils enjoy initiatives like Language Leaders, Clay Pigeon Shooting and Warhammer Club. The choices are endless, ensuring that there is something for everyone!