SENIOR SCHOOL Psychology Year 13 psychologists have conducted their own research projects, using the student body as willing participants. In their first experiment, they interviewed Year 7s about their experiences of their first term at the School. The young pupils didn’t realise that during the interview, their body language was being mimicked by the Year 13 interviewer. Our psychologists were Religious Studies a Popular Choice Big advances have been made this year in the teaching of religious studies. For the first time we have offered the full religious studies GCSE and the first cohort of Year 10s who have opted for the subject are rising enthusiastically to the challenges of the course. They have enjoyed debating controversial real world topics such as euthanasia, the death penalty and poverty. Our younger pupils visited two local places of worship: a mosque and a church. The experience is always well received by the pupils, as it enables them to gain a real insight into how religion is experienced by its adherents in the 21st century. They used their experience to design and create their own places of worship and as a strong way to commence their religious studies journey at TC. Natalie Austin, Religious Studies and Psychology Switching on to Electronics Tettenhall College remains one of the few schools in the Midlands area to offer electronics as a subject. All pupils take the subject in Year 9 and this year saw a record number of pupils electing to take the subject forward at GCSE. Pupils design intricate projects at both GCSE and A level, some of which have involved combining computer programming with electronics and developing more complex practical circuits to solve everyday problems, such as an alarm going off if a fridge gets too hot or cold. Gordon Evans, Science Tales of an Everest Conqueror Matthew Dickinson, filmmaker for Channel 4, National Geographic, the BBC and former Everest conqueror came to visit Years 7-9. He talked about his experiences and how he prepared for this once in a lifetime opportunity, the emotions he had to face on the expedition, his motivation and many other inspiring elements to his journey. He told us that it takes drive, ambition and dedication to achieve what you set out to do. He suffered with homesickness, seeing dead bodies, facing life threatening challenges and injuries to two of his fingers, caused by extreme frostbite. Asked to describe his experience in three words, he said it was: life-enhancing, terrifying and exhilarating. Florence Williams and Ella Caffrey, Year 9 22 investigating a phenomenon called ‘the chameleon effect’, which suggests we rate people as friendlier and more likable when they subtly mirror our body language. A second study investigated whether there were age differences in the types of relationships that older and younger students found to be most important. The Year 13s created a questionnaire to assess which relationships are of most importance to students. They found that regardless of age, people rated their mother as their most important relationship.
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