The first ever Meridian Trust ‘Masterclass’ event took place this week across three separate school sites. The event brought together a number of secondary school students who enjoyed some engaging and brain-teasing activities throughout the day.
The masterclasses were held at Northstowe Secondary College, Sawtry Village Academy and Stratton Upper School, covering a variety of subjects aimed at students from secondary schools across the Trust in Years 7,8 and 9.
A wide range of fun activities was led by curriculum leaders in their specialist subjects, with the aim of getting students to think about their career interests and possible specialisms in the future.
A summary of the activities is below:
Geography Masterclass – Hazard Management
Year 7 students from Nene Park Academy, Sawtry Village Academy, Greater Peterborough UTC and Stamford Welland Academy had the opportunity to take part in a hazard management masterclass at Sawtry Village Academy.
During the session, students learned about the different types of natural hazards – such as earthquakes – and how the impacts and responses vary depending on the nature of the event and the development of a country. Students worked in teams to complete a decision-making exercise in which they had to provide shelter for as many residents as possible in a village hall in Nepal.
The masterclass then focused on the features of aseismic building design and concluded with students creating their own earthquake-proof building using spaghetti and midget gems. Students then simulated an earthquake to see which buildings were able to withstand them. Students really enjoyed working in teams and getting involved in the decision-making exercise.
Maths Masterclass – Code Breaking
The first part of the maths masterclass was about password safety, encryption and how to keep your personal information secure. This involved a task that centred around understanding the importance of password security and personal information.
The second part of the session was about code breaking and solving a problem. Students had to decipher clues using a range of different code-breaking activities and use the clues to solve a problem about a box of chocolates.
Charmayne Leggett, Curriculum Director for Maths said: “The students were fabulous, such a great credit to their schools and the Trust.”
Science Masterclass – Escape Room Challenge
In Science, our students tackled several problems to solve 4-digit padlocks in our Escape room challenge.
James Brown, Curriculum Director for Science said: “It was really wonderful to see the joy and excitement on the student’s faces when they cracked the code! A big thank you to all of our schools who took part.”
PE Masterclass – Round-robin competition
Natasha Seabrook, Director of PE for Meridian Trust, said: “Students got to participate in three round-robin competitions for their schools which included playing badminton, table tennis and volleyball. For many students, this was their first experience of volleyball and were able to learn new skills and apply them within a competition, in a fun and supportive environment. A great evening was had by all, especially those who have not had the opportunity to represent their school before.”
History Masterclass – Archaeological artefacts
For the history session, 60 Year 10 students from The Ferrers School, Sharnbrook Academy and Lincroft Academy attended a History Masterclass session hosted by Stratton Upper School.
The session was organised by Emily Oakes, Meridian Trust Curriculum Director for History and led by Natasha Riley, the Education Officer at Chester House Estate, and Ben Donnelly-Symes, Head Curator of Northamptonshire’s Archaeological Resource Centre. Students worked in groups of six to learn about archaeological artefacts and the history of Chester House.
During the session, students were able to handle real Roman pottery, make an illustration of a Roman coin, identify finds and create their own archaeological record. Natasha and Ben were on hand to answer their questions about what archaeologists do, with one student asking: “How are human remains preserved?” and another asked: “What is the most unusual archaeological artefact you look after?”
Students from every school were engaged throughout the session with one student saying: “If we do this again, please can you pick me?”
English Masterclass – History of language
Shehlha Zafir, English Curriculum Director, led the students in a masterclass about the history of the English Language. The students particularly enjoyed working with runes to create their Name Stories which then led to using the FUTHORK alphabet to experiment with how Old English worked. The masterclass also explored how the names of towns and cities in England reflect either Roman or Anglo-Saxon settlements.
Students can look forward to more masterclasses across the Trust in March and May 2023.